School board to vote on bus-camera bids

Most school bus drivers, at some point, have overheard or been a part of discussion about what was said on a bus.

If the Newton Community School District gets the type of bid Superintendent Bob Callaghan is looking for, and the board of education approves its purchase, Newton students will soon have both their actions and audio recorded by cameras.

At its July 13 meeting, the board agreed to have 6:45 p.m. as the point in Monday’s regular board meeting when a hearing will be held. The hearing and the meeting are to select from expected bids on a new camera system for its buses that will cover several exterior angles, and will pick up both audio and video on the interior of all 33 marked school buses.

Monday night’s meeting, to be held in the Emerson Hough building conference room, is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

The lone bidder was School Bus Sales Co. of Waterloo, which proposed installing a camera system from REI, Inc., of Omaha. The base bid is $73,426.85 for a contract that would run through Dec. 31, 2016, with an additional $1,773.75 per bus for an external camera that would capture license plates of vehicles committing stop-arm violations.

Newton buses have had video-only cameras for the past few years that comply with a state law. However, Callaghan said, audio, which would go above and beyond state requirements, could reduce the number of times he and principals and other administrators are attempting to read lips or guess about noises or words spoken on a bus.

“We can hear them, but we can’t see them,” Callaghan said at the July 13 meeting.

The superintendent said the system should have a feature that allows drivers to hit a button if they see or hear an incidence that should be marked. That button starts a cycle that downloads a chunk of video as soon as the bus enters the wireless Internet range of the district’s “bus barn,” allowing the images to be transferred for storage and review.

“Principals will then be able to watch and hear online footage of what goes on, on a bus,” Callaghan said. He added that cameras will help monitor the exact driving movements and timing of the bus and all the vehicles around it.

Board member Donna Cook asked, “At one point do we consider a second person on the bus? The cameras are good, but when I think about what they’re asked to do, managing the behaviors on a bus can be a challenge.”

Callaghan said the purpose of cameras is to help put information in the hands of school personnel who handle behavioral and disciplinary issues on a daily basis, such as principals. The superintendent and several board members pointed out that the student population in Newton generally is very respectful on buses, but incidents the district should record do happen from time to time.

“I believe strongly in (Transportation Supervisor Curt) Mr. Roorda and in all of our bus drivers, but their job is transportation,” Callaghan said. “I have just as much confidence in our classroom and facility personnel. If a child is having problems both in the classroom and on a bus, they should be able to dovetail those two things together, and let the child know that’s not what we expect.”

The exact cost of the cameras won’t be known until bids are opened.

Board member Nat Clark asked if, at slightly more cost, the district could put one dome-light camera in each of the Suburbans and other small vehicles used to transport students. Callaghan said that wasn’t the recommendation of anyone involved and comprising the request for bids, but that extra cost certainly could be discussed.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com