He indicated the company’s soft-
ware can also evaluate driver behavior and actual driving abilities because the system interfaces with the engine diagnostics. “Our goal at REI is to provide a DVR and wireless system wherein schools have a single source for all the information they need to run an efficient fleet and respond to important events as they occur,” Routh said. “Even if a school is not ready to fund a lot based Wi-Fi ap- plication today, I would recommend purchasing Wi-Fi enabled DVRs on any upcoming orders. Tis will save a school a lot of money when the funds are available to go wireless in the coming years.” Te Brainerd Independent School
District in Minnesota and Cook-Il- linois, a school bus contractor with roughly 2,200 vehicles in the Chicago area, are just two entities that still rely on hard-drive technol- ogy. Brainerd transportation director, Kala Henkensiefken and Cook-Il- linois Chief Operating Officer John Benish, Jr., touted the virtues of their video systems, but agreed that their current operating procedures add to the amount of time and labor it takes to review video. “I can’t wait for the day we can
go wireless. We’ve talked about it, but it becomes a funding issue,” Henkensiefken said. “Our building principals would really like it because they could download video without leaving their desk. Right now, I go to them or they come to us.” Benish noted that new technol-
ogy “is light years ahead and more reliable,” but contractors need to make sure the equipment becomes obsolete. “When we buy equipment we ex- pect to run it for a minimum of seven years,” he said. “It’s not us that pays; it’s the district…We have to pass our costs along.” When the time comes to purchase
new equipment, Henkensiefken said the district’s IT staff will be involved because “they are the experts and they can help ask some of those questions that I might not think about.”
WIRELESS MANAGEMENT Benish, Scott and Henkensiefken
all recalled the earliest days of bus video, when a metal box containing a camera and video cassette recorder would be shuffled from vehicle to vehicle. Starting about five years ago, Scott said the industry began to undertake a wireless revolution. Scott said his sales team recently talked about the increasing interest from customers in state-of-the-art systems because “more and more people have a wireless management system, they know it works and there are advantages to it.” Wireless management systems
allow access by approved personnel who are located virtually anywhere because data is stored in the cloud or a local network. “Someone can access the software, if they’re authorized, type in a few key strokes and the video will come back to them,” Scott added. “It’s a lot less labor intensive.” Scott acknowledged districts and
contractors often feel forced to opt for systems with less upfront costs, but he encouraged consideration of total vehicle-cost analysis when purchasing equipment. “Places with (large fleets) will employ a person or two to do nothing but manage video. If they employ a wireless management system like ours, they can dramatically reduce that cost,” he said. “Districts and contractors will now find that the cost of a wireless management system is less than they may think.” Transportation Director Carlos
Chicas led the push to install video systems in the Capistrano Unified School District’s entire active fleet of 130-plus buses when he arrived at California’s eighth-largest district two years ago. He said went through the same process four years earlier at the Stockton Unified School District in northern California, where cam- eras were instrumental in thwarting two major legal issues. When a driver attempted to fondle a student on a bus, Chicas said, the district was able to act immediately.Ø
www.stnonline.com 45
Recent Events Underscore Necessity of Reviewing Video
Not quite a quarter into 2016, video systems on buses have already delivered invaluable information in shocking and disturbing incidents across the country.
• In Oklahoma, a district attorney reviewed video and audio from a Norman North High School District bus before charging four wrestlers with the alleged rape of two boys.
• In Ames, Iowa, an Iowa State University campus bus driver was charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident resulting in death and failure to obey a traffic control device when an 18-year-old student, Emmalee Jacobs, was struck and killed crossing a street shortly after 7:00 a.m. Dec. 14. The driver, 23-year-old Benja- min Clague, was arrested Jan. 20 after a super- visor reviewed bus video and heard a loud noise that led police to believe Jacobs was hit by the bus. Bus video also showed the driver stopping later to inspect the vehicle before continuing on his route
• In Chandler, Arizona, a Chandler Unified School District driver resigned in late January after admitting he slapped a 15-year-old student with special needs after the youngster spit on him twice. Video of the incident showed the driver grab and yank the student before striking him; a school aide held down the student, who was in a mechanical restraint.
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