stop-arm cameras can catch motorists illegally passing stopped school buses. Yet these uses only scratch the sur- face of today’s video capabilities. Technology is Arby Creach’s life. The director of trans-
T
portation at Osceola School District in Kissimmee, Florida, recalled a time 30 years ago when he used make-shift school bus cameras at his first district in Polk County. Upon accepting his first director job after serving in the military, he realized that drivers needed help while they were out there alone on the road—whether it was from parents or kids accusing the driver of something or vali- dating a student write up. “It didn’t take very long in the early 1990s to figure it out
that every school bus out on the road needed a good solid camera,” Creach noted. “Well, in those days there weren’t cameras like you know today.” Creach and his team placed Sony mini cameras with 30-minute recording capabilities inside black boxes and bolted them to a bus ceiling. A small mirror lens was placed on the front of the box so the students didn’t know if there was a camera inside. “And because we wanted the thing to record when the bus cranked up, we superglued the buttons down to the on position and tied the power supply into the accesso- ries,” Creach added. “When the driver turned [the ignition], a camera came on. That was our modern technology.” Now, Creach said Seon cameras from Safe Fleet are in-
stalled on all 400 Osceola school buses. He added that the older buses have around three cameras each, while the new buses have a maximum of 10 that cover the inside and perimeter of the vehicle. That number will increase when the district adds stop-arm cameras, if the state of Florida passes legislation to allow for video evidence to catch motorists who illegally pass the stopped school bus. “I think that the evolution of technology has done an
outstanding job of ensuring that we have a much safer environment on school buses,” Creach added. “I think from someone who is investing in video systems that they realize that it’s all unique to what they need, the community they serve and the budget that they have. I also think that to operate buses without video—you don’t need to have live feed—is a disservice to drivers and a disservice to parents because it does add that next level of confidence, safety and security for parents and students and the administrators of the schools alike. “It’s about accountability and doing the very best we can
every day for those students that we serve,” he added, not- ing that selecting the right video product is not just about the technology but the company itself. “It’s service after the sale. It’s about a company that puts the customer as num- ber one, and I can tell you that Safe Fleet has always done
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here’s no doubt that having cameras on board school buses can exonerate school bus drivers or students from being accused of something they didn’t do. Additionally, where permitted,
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