Schools

Did You Know? All Greenwich School Buses Have Video Cameras

The school buses are also equipped with GPS tracking devices as per the District's 2012 contract with Student Transportation of America.

In the weeks since the tragic suicide of Bart Palosz a conversation about bullying has begun, and Patch has received feedback from parents and students on the topic. Several suggestions to combat bullying were included in the piece "Greenwich Schools: A culture of bullying?"

Some parents suggested the District add video cameras to the buses.  But, as it turns out, the buses are equipped with cameras.

Reached on the phone, Brad Rumble, the Security Supervisor at Student Transportation of America (STA) in Greenwich confirmed that there are both audio and video recording devices on the entire fleet of buses. 

Janice Domiziano, head of transportation for the Board of Education, said that the provision for video cameras on all school buses was written into the most recent bus contract, which went into effect in 2012. The prior 5-year contract included some retro-fitting and a set number of cameras added each year.

Domiziano assured Patch that not only are there working video cameras on all the school buses, but that as of 2012, every school bus is also equipped with a GPS tracking device. The GPS systems come in handy when, for example, a parent claims a bus was late or didn't come. 

According to Domiziano,  parents wishing to report an issue concerning a school bus are welcome to click the "Report Buses Issues" link on the Greenwich Schools website. She said that quite often the reports are submitted at 11:00p.m., or even later. When she receives them in the morning, she sets about investigating.    

Domoziano explained the procedure for investigating a reported incident. She will contact the bus company, who, in turn, remove the camera from the bus, download the footage and provide it to Domiziano on a flash drive. From there, Domiziano downloads the video her work computer. At that point a principal or member of the school administration will come to her to view the footage.

The complaints Domiziano fields may be bullying, but often they are about overcrowding or a bus being late or not coming. 

Chris Winters said in an email to Patch, "We review the video footage whenever we have reports of a problem on the bus."   

Did you know there were recording devices and GPS tracking devices on all the school buses? Have you reported an incident that was resolved as a result of the video recordings or GPS? Tell us in the comments.





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