News

School bus passengers have to watch what they say, too

Posted January 08, 2008 10:00 pm

Pete Sherman

There are certain things Kamba Broom, a sixth-grader at Lincoln Magnet School, knows she and her friends cannot do on the bus.

They can't eat, fight, throw, walk down the aisle to visit friends, even peer around their backseats too far. If they do any of these, they know the little black box disguising a video camera on top of the rear emergency exit door is watching.

"You can tell it's on because the red light blinks," Kamba said.

Changes in state law this school year have made bus-trip recordings even more useful.

The Springfield School District recently sent letters to parents notifying them of the changes. Previously, any sound recorded by the cameras could not be used for evidence in disciplinary matters. Now, sound can be used. Another change in the law requires that buses post signage to indicate cameras are on board.

Every one of District 186's approximately 166 buses, owned and operated by First Student Inc. (formerly called Laidlaw Education Services), has one of the black boxes, the fronts of which are covered with a one-way mirror. Roughly one out of every 12 boxes has a running video camera. About 7,000 students ride the buses each day.

The buses have been equipped with video cameras for nearly 20 years, according to transportation director Rick Koopman. Tapes are used all the time to determine whether claims of student - or bus employee - misbehavior are true.

Most of the cameras are now digital and typically cost $700 to $800 each. Use of them is built into the district's contract with First Student. Some buses always have one working. Others get cameras when parents or school officials request one. Many buses are hooked up with cameras on a rotation.

"We review (footage) every day," said Norman Mars, First Student's regional operations manager for central Illinois.

"We (can) see kids out of their seats, throwing things, starting fights, maybe bullying. It's not rampant," Mars said. "The audio will help in two respects - to prove when kids are using foul language. We can pick that up now. Also, if we get an accusation that a driver or bus monitor uses inappropriate language. The (tapes) quite often protects the drivers - as long as they do what they're supposed to."

Most of the time, a video is benign. But in many cases, Mars will have to forward the footage to district officials or principals, who will use it to determine disciplinary measures.

"If we see anything that doesn't look as it should, we give it to the school," he said.

Occasionally, bus employees do get in trouble, Mars said. In another Illinois school district, video footage captured one of Mars' drivers hauling items into the bus he was scavenging from curbside trash piles. He had dropped all of his students off by then, but he still lost his job, Mars said.

Lincoln Magnet School principal Peg Kruger said it used to be her job to review tapes with students when she was an assistant principal several years ago. She would make popcorn for some viewing sessions, she said.

She brought parents and students in about once a month for a viewing. Now, maybe one a year reaches her desk.

But Kruger said relying on audio as well as video evidence will be helpful.

"Usually what I was trying to get was what was said," Kruger said.

Not all bus rules are meant to keep kids safe and quiet. As Kamba and her friends were rattling off the list of prohibited behaviors, bus monitor Linda Gillette explained the reason why eating on the bus is forbidden.

"Raccoons," Gillette said. "They'll get in searching for food and tear up the seats at night."

But the cameras are turned off by then.

Pete Sherman can be reached at (217) 788-1539.

Article Categories
News