SUFFOLK, Va. — Suffolk Public Schools has upgraded its bus camera system, giving administrators the ability to monitor live video feeds from school buses in real time without having to physically retrieve footage.
The cameras inside the buses are not new, but the real-time technology is now installed in 117 of the district's 140 buses.
SPS Transportation Director Derrick Bryant said the upgrade eliminates the need to manually pull footage from each vehicle.
"We can remotely look at what's going on the bus instead of having to come to a bus and then have to pull a hard drive we can look at all of that information remotely, from our desk or personal devices," Bryant said.
Previously, retrieving footage required staff to go directly to a bus and remove a hard drive. The new system allows administrators to respond to reports much faster.
"What we had to do before is go and pull this video we had to physically go to a bus, grab a hard drive and pull that information. Now a bus driver can call in, a parent can call in, and say I was passing the bus, and we saw some activity go on on the bus," Bryant said.
A red button near the driver's seat allows drivers to notify administrators if something needs to be recorded. Administrators can then check the live feed and determine what action, if any, is needed.
"If I need to send police there, if I need to go, if it's a situation she has under control that can get to the school that the administrators can deal with all of that will be decided once we can patch in and see exactly what's going on," Bryant said.
With school starting on August 24, Bryant said new bus routes are now available. The district has shortened some routes and will also use cars for some student pickups.
"We have consolidated some routes we've also utilized some cars now. We're going to have actual buses and students being picked up in cars this year. But like I said the biggest thing was just making sure that we consolidated some of the routes where we notice that we had buses appearing in the same neighborhoods," Bryant said.
Parents can check their child's updated bus route through Suffolk Public Schools before the first day of school.
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