CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Kathleen Mack is president of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board. She says parents tell her they're concerned for children's safety after witnessing cars pass buses during stops for drop-offs and pick-ups.
- Information was distributed to remind people in the community about the traffic rules, but the problem continued
- The board is now looking at adding external cameras to the buses to catch people in the act
- School officials say the cameras would cost nearly $1,000 per bus
“I felt very responsible, as the board did, to the parents to try and figure things out,” said Mack.
Mack says they distributed information — reminders on when you can and cannot pass a school bus.
“Four months has passed and still incidents continue happening,” Mack said.
Bus drivers have even been taking license plate numbers to police.
“We then, it was kind of an educational component as well, we then discovered that, you know, there's very little that can be done from a legality standpoint,” said Mack.
The board is now looking at adding external cameras to the busses to catch people in the act.
District Business Manager Chris Coad says he has quotes for how much they would cost.
“So, we know exactly what the hard costs for the purchase of the equipment is per bus. And that's running right around $800 per bus. And then we would estimate about $100 per bus for installation,” said Coad.
He says they would start with 10 buses or 25 percent of the fleet
“As a trial to see how it goes and we would identify those specific routes that have been problematic,” Coad said.
If they do implement these cameras, they would be following the lead of both the Mentor and Hudson school districts. But the deal is, those two school districts only have to comply with the laws of one municipality, while Brecksville Broadview Heights obviously has to comply with two.
The board has talked with other districts that have taken this step and the response has been mixed.
“Some have seen benefits and really like it and then some have not been as positive,” said Mack.
School board officials say that the superintendent has had some preliminary conversations with the municipalities to see if they can get this done. However, nothing has been set in stone just yet.