The Maryland General Assembly recently passed a bill that allows schools to install cameras on the exterior of school buses and allows law enforcement agencies to use the camera footage to issue tickets to drivers.
Although the bill went into effect Oct. 1, MCPS and other school systems in Maryland, such as Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS), had already added exterior cameras to buses before the bill was passed to provide evidence that could be used to argue in favor of the bill.
“We started buying the cameras before the legislation was passed in order to support it,” said Todd Watkins, director of the MCPS Transportation Department. “Frederick County is actually leading the charge right now and was the first county to start the cameras and is close to being the first to start issuing tickets.”
According to Thomas Buckley, FCPS Assistant Transportation Manager, FCPS supported the legislature by providing testimonies at multiple hearings in Annapolis. FCPS has had cameras in buses since 1999, but only in half of its fleet.
MCPS had exterior cameras installed under the stop arm on the driver’s side two years ago in order to catch speeding motorists who were endangering children as they boarded and exited buses. Cameras inside buses have been in use for six years throughout the county.
According to state policy, buses in Maryland have to be replaced every 12 years. Over the past two years, MCPS has added exterior cameras to 202 replacement buses and has installed interior cameras in half its fleet.
According to Watkins, the cameras inside buses serve as a way to check up on students and bus drivers, and, according to Buckley, the cameras also give transportation management officials a tool with which they can train potential drivers.
According to Watkins, the cost of installing the cameras is included in the overall cost of replacing buses, so the cameras will not place a significant financial burden on MCPS. He believes that the cameras have made the MCPS Transportation Department more efficient.
“When we get a complaint we hope it’s recorded on the camera, which makes our job easier,” Watkins said. “Sometimes they get a technical glitch and we have to work to figure it out, but usually they’re great.”
However, some students do not share Watkins’ opinion of the cameras.
“I think they’re both good and bad,” sophomore Melissa Adler said. “I can see the reasoning behind it, [but] it’s kind of creepy, like someone’s watching you.”
