Orangeburg Consolidated School District 4 officials are going to install more surveillance cameras at Edisto Primary School after two separate reports of strangers approaching children on campus.

Assistant Superintendent Larry Wolfe said the school will install three or four cameras to solidify security.

"We didn't feel like we were getting enough coverage," Wolfe said. "We think it will improve coverage of our school."

In light of the recent incidents, the district has reviewed security and surveillance at each school. Wolfe said Edisto Primary is the only school currently in need of more cameras.

Details surrounding the latest incident on Oct. 9, which were originally not released, have now emerged.

During afternoon pick-up for students, three children said they came across a four-door black vehicle with tinted windows in the car line. All three children said a white male opened the back seat door and said, "Hop in," according to an Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office incident report. They said the man's vehicle had a car seat in it.

But the students' description of the man vary.

Each student described the man as being a different age, ranging from 30 to 70 years old.

One student said the man was bald, while the other two claimed he had black hair, the report said.

One student's account said the man wore a white T-shirt. The others said he had a black T-shirt.

In addition, one child claimed the man was sitting in the back seat and someone else was driving the vehicle. Other accounts didn't mention a passenger.

The incident report said the children were all walking together when the man allegedly opened the car door and spoke to them.

Edisto Primary policy mandates any car that picks up children after school must have an assigned tag visibly hanging from the rearview mirror.

On Oct. 7, the school reported that a white male in a gray vehicle approached two children walking back from the media center in the morning. According to an OCSO incident report, the man told the kids, "Come on, hurry up." The kids fled and told school officials.

Both incidents are under investigation by the Sheriff's Office.

In response to the incidents, OCSD 4 officials say they have strengthened security at all schools and reinforced existing protocols to employees.

Superintendent Dr. Thomas Sparks has enlisted each school principal to draw up a revamped security plan.

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T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060. Discuss this and other stories at TheTandD.com.

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