WASHINGTON, D.C. – Schools are “rapidly” deploying more security cameras to monitor the actions of schoolchildren.

“This is something we planned, when we wired our buildings,” Montgomery County Public Schools Security Director Bob Hellmuth tells NBC 4. “We wired them for the maximum number of cameras we could put in.”

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Maryland’s Montgomery County schools is using 5,000 cameras on its campuses and all are monitored at a central hub. Any can be accessed in real time “with the click of a mouse.”

D.C. Public Schools utilize the most of any in the region – 6,100.

“DCPS centrally monitors alarms and security cameras in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department from a central security command center,” DCPS spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz tells the news station.

All told, here’s how many cameras are in use in the region:

* D.C. Public Schools: 6,100
* Prince George’s County Public Schools: 5,500
* Loudoun County Public Schools: 3,000
* Howard County Public Schools: 1,300
* Frederick County Public Schools: 1,200
* Montgomery County Public Schools: 5,000
* Anne Arundel County Public Schools: 6,000
* Fairfax County Public Schools: 1,250

There has been an increase of 1,300 cameras in just the last few months, with Prince George’s County Public Schools installing hundreds alone.

“Schools can monitor the cameras from the school and we can monitor them from our central security office,” spokesman Max Pugh says.

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According to NBC 4, the expense is “offset” by “government grants,” presumably federal money as all of the school districts are, after all, local units of government.

But Montgomery County’s Hellmuth says now they have so many cameras, it’s not possible to regularly monitor them all.

“There are lots of things we use a camera for, but it’s not our primary security initiative,” he says.

In addition to its 3,000 cameras, Loudoun County Public Schools is also making use of an increased police presence in schools.

“Loudoun County Public Schools have a strong partnership with all law enforcement partners and encourage their presence in and around the school environment,“ according to spokesman Wayde Byard.