The Jamestown School Board has approved participating in a school Bus Stop Arm Enforcement Program.
Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said school buses would be equipped with stop arm cameras, “Meaning, when the stop sign goes out on the side of the bus, there’s a camera attached to that arm and it looks in both directions. So if a car, with the red lights on and the stop sign out, were to pass the bus, it records that information and it can be sent to the Police Department so that they can issue a ticket, and appearance ticket, for that traffic violation.”
Whitaker said the enforcement part of the agreement is not something they currently have available.
He added there is no cost to the district for the cameras, “They install the cameras and if we should decide to end the program they would take their cameras off without charge also. So, they believe they’re going to make enough money off of this to not have to worry about costs, so we are cost-free in this whole thing.”
Jamestown City Council previously authorized a Bus Stop Arm camera program, which allows the City to collect fees from violations of those who pass stopped school buses. However, they tabled a resolution in December to contract with BusPatrol who would outfit the Jamestown Public Schools district’s fleet, citing a desire to have the School District approve the agreement first. The City would receive a share of the fine money as part of that agreement.
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