School board eyes cameras on buses

All Craven County school buses may be equipped with high-definition security cameras next year.

Carr Ipock, chairman of the Carven County School Board, announced the new security measures Wednesday during a schools organizational review meeting.

The school board hasn’t formally voted on the purchase of new cameras, but has the funding to do so, Ipock said.

In the past, Craven County schools used VHS cameras on selected buses. The cameras would have to be taken off one bus and put on another to monitor the safety of the students. Then if someone had to view the security film, a black box would have to be removed from the bus and viewed, Ipock said.

The school system also used CD cameras but the quality of the video was grainy and hard to see, and nearly impossible to see well through tinted windows of the school buses, Ipock said.

“We’ll be using new technology with high resolution,” he said.

 If someone calls the central office to complain about a driver using a cell phone while driving, the video can be reviewed by removing a memory card and plugging it in to a computer, Ipock said.

Linda Thomas, vice chairwoman of the Craven County School Board, said the new cameras would focus on the driver and bus door and can show the entire bus, helping catch bullies.

“Safety is a high priority with us and that was the reason (for the new cameras),” Thomas said.

“It will give us a record of who did what,” Ipock added. “One of the main reasons this (issue) has come back to us is because parents have come to us wanting something done. It’s a long time coming, but we are glad it is here. We’re trying to stay up with the times.”

Becton Broughton, Craven County Schools director of transportation, said staff would install the high-resolution cameras on all of the 152 school buses in Craven County, saving some money that Ipock said would come from the safety fund.

The cameras cost about $1,300 to $1,400 each and the total cost could be $200,000 or less, Broughton said.