As schools across Los Angeles opened their doors Tuesday morning for the new school year, about 660,000 students and their teachers will continue to feel the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting thanks to more surveillance cameras, safety patrols, higher fences and new lockdown policies.

The Los Angeles Unified School District ramped up the number of campus security aides monitoring elementary schools thanks to about $4.2 million slated to create over 1,000 new positions.

In a press conference on Monday, Los Angeles School Police Department Chief Steve Zipperman also assured parents that there would be an increased police presence across the district's 1,200 schools this week.

"Students will see an increased number of our police officers as well as some from the LAPD and L.A. County Sheriff's Office due to new partnerships we have with local law enforcement," said John Guttierez, a senior police officer with the L.A. School Police Department and aide to Chief Zipperman.

After the Newtown, Conn. tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December, L.A. Unified announced the new Campus Aide Special program, created and funded by L.A. Unified, which created 1,087 new three-hour campus aide positions for elementary, middle and schools without little or no campus security.

The district and the Los Angeles School Police Department decided to change lockdown policies to allow teachers to leave the classroom with their students if that is the best option.

"After Sandy Hook we took a look at the lockdown policies we had in place and changed them to give teachers and administrators the decision to leave the classroom in an active shooter situation," said Chief Zipperman.

Some students at L.A. Unified schools and at campuses in Riverside and Alahambra were also greeted with higher iron fences surrounding campuses in an effort to keep possible attackers out.

"The idea of fencing was to keep kids from getting out, not to keep someone else from getting in," Kirk Lewis, assistant superintendent of operations at Riverside Unified School District, told the L.A. Times.

Los Feliz Elementary School Principal Kathy Pilkinton said the district paid to raise the four-foot fence surrounding the kindergarten classrooms to eight feet. Pilkinton said some homeless people occasionally wandered onto the 430-student campus located in Hollywood, but it wasn't until after Sandy Hook that the district took action to supply the school with more security measures.

"All our gates are now locked and we now have a buzzer for the front door," said Pilkinton. "You used to be able just to walk into campus but now parents have to be recognized and buzzed in."

SEE ALSO: After Sandy Hook: More Armed Guards In L.A. Schools Gets Mixed Reaction

These new security measures have sparked controversy among students, parents and residents, who say fences, more security officers, surveillance cameras and locked gates create a confined and prison-like environment.

"Inclinations to intensify security in schools should be reconsidered. We cannot and should not turn our schools into fortresses," said Manuel Criollo, lead organizer for the Community Rights Campaign. "Effective prevention cannot wait until there is a gunman in a school parking lot."

A new campus aide program is one way the district says students can feel more secure in addition to the more intensified physical reminders that schools must now always be prepared for violent attacks.

The new program is focused primarily on L.A. Unified elementary schools, according to Chief Zipperman. This year, all elementary schools received funding for at least one campus aide to monitor the campus for three hours at a time.

"We have been fortunate to get an influx of budget money to fund these new campus aides," said Chief Zipperman. "These aides work directly for schools' principals and they are our eyes and ears as well. They play an important role in working with students and monitoring the gates."

Los Feliz Elementary now has two responsible for watching the campus during the morning and afternoon. Pilkinton says the aides were originally just staff members, but were trained by L.A. Unified through an online webinar on how to deal with lockdowns, threats to school campuses and most importantly, negotiating student conflicts.

Opponents say the district should focus more funding on conflict resolution classes instead of physical security measures, pointing out that the comprehensive security system at Sandy Hook, which included a locked front door, a buzz-in system and camera surveillance, all failed to stop an armed Adam Lanza from getting into the building.

SEE ALSO: Newtown Superintendent Talks School Safety

But officers from the Los Angeles School Police Department say that California politicians, school administrators and parents are asking for more police to protect their students. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) proposed sending National Guard troops into schools to protect students, if needed.

“What we are receiving from parents and students is a desire for more officers on schools,” said deputy chief officer Timothy Anderson, who has worked for the L.A. School Police Department for 20 years. “They have a positive feeling when they see our presence, and our feedback has been positive."

Robin Scurlock is one of these parents. As she watched the last of the morning's students filter into Crenshaw High School's blue metal gates, Scurlock says she is happy that L.A. police officers are a constant presence at her ninth-grade daughter's public school.

"I feel my child is a lot safer," said Scurlock. "I went to Crenshaw many years ago when it wasn't secure. People could walk onto campus anytime and there were no police and no check-in policies."

Like many students across Los Angeles and the nation, Scurlock's daughter is no stranger to uniformed police officers, strict security measures and locked gates. For many kindergarten and elementary schoolers starting school this year, a closed, constricted campus will feel normal, marking a significant shift in school environment and culture.

"When my daughter was at 32nd Street Elementary the doors were always locked and parents weren't allowed onto campus until 8 a.m.," said Scurlock. "The security was very tight."

After Sandy Hook, Los Feliz Elementary moved all kindergarten classes to the center of campus and parents started raising money to buy security cameras, but Pilkinton said the district gave the school money to buy it before the start of the new school year.

These security measures had been lightly discussed, explained Pilkington, but it was the Sandy Hook tragedy that spurred Los Feliz’s parents and administrators into action, as well as the district as a whole.

"If this is what's going to keep kids safe then I support it," said Spurlock, standing by two LAPD vehicles parked outside Crenshaw's main entrance. "Right now it seems like the best answer."

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