Posted 1:49 am Friday, October 29, 2010
Bullard ISD Adds Electronic Surveillance Cameras To Buses
By KELLY GOOCH
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
BULLARD -- Bullard ISD buses will soon feature surveillance cameras.
A dual camera system, with one camera that faces the entire bus from the front and another mounted above the driver that faces the door, will be put on all 14 buses.
Superintendent Keith Bryant said trustees approved the cameras in part because they're a tool the district can use to assist drivers in keeping order on buses.
He said the cameras also provide security and safety.
"It keeps a record of all critical components like speed (and) braking," he said. "We could tell if a driver's speeding or driving recklessly according to the data."
The cameras, estimated to cost about $20,000, are expected to be installed in the next couple of weeks.
Trustees decided to approve the cameras just days after an unloaded BB gun was found in a fourth grader's backpack.
Bryant said the student left the backpack on the bus and, when the district tried to find out who it belonged to, the gun was discovered.
He said the child's parents were immediately contacted, and the student has been punished accordingly.
"There was never any harm or threat," he said. "It was simply a case of a young student making a mistake."
Bryant said the surveillance cameras were not in response to that incident, and they were already a budget item.
Campuses already had surveillance, he said, so the next logical step was to get surveillance on buses.
"It's just a deterrent and a preventative measure to provide more security on buses," Bryant said. "As we grow as a district and have more students, we need to do more monitoring. We're trying to be more diligent in making a safe environment."
And School Board president Dr. John Alexander said a safe environment is of the utmost importance.
"Kids' safety comes first," he said. "That's unequivocal in today's society. We have the ability … to watch our kids and watch our budgets and that's the direction we took."
