Demand is rising on all fronts for the video surveillance systems used to keep an eye on children riding the school bus — among suppliers working to meet customer demand, schools seeking accountability and parents who increasingly call for student monitoring.
In the words of one transportation director: “I just don’t think people are tolerant about not knowing what’s happening on the bus.”
Kim Crabtree, director of transportation at Greater Albany Public Schools in Oregon, said her department has used onboard cameras to monitor students for eight years and has been upgrading to new Pro-Vision systems with high-quality video and audio.
With today’s tech-savvy kids, audio can prove invaluable when there is an incident purposely kept out of sight, she noted.
“You can’t see everything because the new buses have really high seatbacks … so sometimes you can pick up more from just listening. That’s hard, too, if you have 20 kids talking at the back of the bus over an engine. It takes some detective work,” said Crabtree, who has had all 80 school buses in her fleet outfitted with cameras.
When video of a reported incident is lacking, she will have two people listen closely to the footage.
“Kids are smart — they know where the cameras are, too. We can still tell when something fishy is going on. Some kids will tell the driver, ‘You need to watch the video. Something happened back there today,’” Crabtree continued.
Students are also holding each other accountable for inappropriate behavior through anonymous reporting systems offered by companies like Awareity and the CyberBully Hotline. The latter developed a school bus tip line program so students can report incidents without fear of reprisal. Less than one year after launching the bus tip line, Wentzville School District near St. Louis reported a 24-percent drop in school bus behavior referrals.
Corrin Reynolds, transportation supervisor at San Jose Unified School District in California, told STN that student conduct reports have dropped by 50 percent since having video cameras installed on buses three years ago. But he added that bus drivers have also been a key factor in their success.
“A bit of training for drivers on how to better work with students, combined with cameras, has enabled us to make headway,” said Reynolds. “We tell drivers to be friendly because if the kids feel the driver is interested in them, then they are more likely to behave appropriately. It’s as simple as asking how they are doing or saying ‘Have a good day!’ We have to make the bus a safe, comfortable place so kids don’t feel they are being bullied or pressured.”
Cameras ‘A Necessity’
Bullying is the main reason video surveillance has experienced such rapid growth in the school bus industry, according to Curtiss Routh, vice president of sales at REI, whose offerings include video cameras, DVRs and school bus radios.
“Our internal systems continue to monitor and protect students from bullies. Surveillance systems do help deter bullying but it still occurs,” said Routh. “Most schools want some form of surveillance or student tracking.”
REI is seeing continual growth in new bus installations as well as the replacement of outdated hardware or software on existing buses, he told STN, along with increased demand for software with greater reporting and fleet management capabilities. Routh said school administrators also tell him the video monitoring helps them mitigate risk.
“The students are better monitored, providing the drivers (with) the opportunity to drive safer. Everyone feels and knows there’s protection,” he noted.
Reynolds agreed that video monitoring is more widespread today than five to 10 years ago. San Jose USD transports about 2,000 regular-education students daily and contracts with vendors to transport nearly 600 students with special needs. The buses on special-needs routes are required to have onboard video surveillance.
“Interest in video is fairly high around this area. It helps keep an eye on the kids and provides great support for the drivers, making sure the kids are behaving and there are no unwarranted allegations being made,” he said.
For example, Reynolds explained, the district can review footage and confirm for parents that, “No, the driver did not hit your child.”
“We can show this did not occur even though your child is saying that,” he continued, adding that he plans to purchase high-definition cameras next “to get even better videos in the future.”
As a transportation director, Crabtree said she believes onboard cameras are an absolute necessity. “In today’s age, you need to have that kind of technology on your buses to protect students and employees. It really goes both ways,” she said.
The Deterrent Effect
Merrill Mueller Jr., director of student transportation at Algona Community School District in Iowa, said the district began adding two-camera REI systems to route buses in 2009, and so far two-thirds of his fleet carry them. He added that he appreciates the “panic button” that allows bus drivers to mark the location of any incident on the hard drive, making it easier to find the exact footage.
“The video makes the job of the administrator much easier in addressing the behavior issue. It is hard to argue with a video that shows the student misbehaving,” he said. “Referrals have been reduced because the students know that the cameras are on and that the video is available to administrators.”
Other ways the transportation staff tries to create a more peaceful ride include assigning seat locations to put the smaller children at the front of the bus and the larger children in the back. It also makes sense to have an older student by the rear door in an emergency situation, Mueller explained.
Crabtree said Greater Albany has had success with a mini-library that keeps younger students engaged during the ride, whereas middle school and high school students stay occupied with their cellphones.
Reynolds said the district’s 247 Security video system also allows bus drivers to push a button to mark certain footage from that day’s ride.
“The Touchdown system has video automatically downloaded to me here in my office. Wireless transfer is a benefit because it saves me time,” he explained. “I’m able to provide a tremendous amount of support to the drivers this way.”
Since individual schools handle disciplinary measures, Reynolds said this feature makes it easier to pull video clips of unruly students for principals to review. “They are supportive,” he added. “They really like the video showing what’s actually happening on the bus versus parents saying their kid did nothing wrong and blaming the driver. The majority of the time that’s not how it is.”
