HUGHESVILLE, Pa. — Student safety is a big priority for Mark Stamm, the superintendent at East Lycoming School District. Because of this, the school district recently added cameras to all of its buses.
"The idea is to try and bring attention to people passing through buses when the sidearm is out and when the red lights are flashing," said Stamm.
Local central Pennsylvania school districts tell Newswatch 16 that stop-arm violations are on the rise. Stamm says his district is taking action.
"The bus drivers brought this program to us out of concern they had on some of our busier routes. So now they are on all of our buses. We think we have some more problematic areas, but it does happen all around the country. Drivers are more distracted today, and people are in a hurry, and we just want to bring attention to it and try to get people to slow down," he said.
If you are caught on camera driving by a school bus when the stop sign is out, the school resource officer will review that footage, and you could be issued a $300 fine.
"So, the cameras are engaged when the lights are flashing, and the start arm is fully extended," Stamm added.
The school district says all the cameras were provided for free by the Bus Patrol organization.
"The company installs them, they pay all the installation fees, there is no cost to the school district or the local community. They make the money through the citations that are issued," Stamm explained.
The cameras are on the buses now, but the program officially launches on May 11th.
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