School starts in Cornwall this week, and while the Cornwall Central School District always urges motorists to pay attention to children walking and riding school buses to school, the Board of Education recently voted against contracting with Orange County Bus Patrol for school bus stop arm enforcement. The program, run by Orange County, uses cameras embedded in the stop sign that extends from the sides of buses to catch those who pass stopped school buses.

The board’s August 11 session was the second meeting where the topic was discussed. When it was on the agenda at the board’s July meeting, Board Vice President Christian Brunelli spoke against the program, urged his fellow board members to do some research on the topic, and then asked it the matter be tabled until the August meeting. At that meeting Brunelli spoke again on the matter, saying entering into the multi-year contract “was not a prudent step to take”.

“I’m not sure there’s really any upside, even safety,” he said. “There is no research to prove safety.”

Brunelli said several times that such a program – while it would cost the district nothing – “is effectively a huge tax levy on residents”.

“There were 15,000 civil penalties for this issued in Westchester County last year, costing those ticketed $200,000,” he said. “Seventy percent of that money goes to Bus Patrol and 30 percent goes to the county.”

Brunelli also argued that in cases where someone is ticketed for passing a stopped school bus by this system “the burden of proof is on the person who gets the ticket”, saying those reviewing the footage were often out of the state or even artificial intelligence.

From the Orange County website: “Reducing school bus stop-arm violations will significantly contribute to student and school bus safety in and around Orange County. The automated camera system serves as a deterrent and education tool for motorists considering breaking the law and passing a stopped school bus.

While enforcement and education are critical in helping to change behavior, current models and legal frameworks in most states require that police officers catch motorists passing a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing to issue a citation. But with roughly 560,000 school buses traveling across more than 4 million miles of road and highway in the United States, conventional methods are not enough to effectively enforce the law to control these violations across the country. In addition, it permits local law enforcement officers to focus their energies on other high-priority tasks.

The School Bus Safety Program will provide data to partner school officials and municipalities to make informed decisions on school bus safety. The stop-arm violation data can also be leveraged by local law enforcement to add a physical presence to school bus stops with higher rates of infractions.”

While the BOE vote was 7-2 to not participate in the stop arm cameras, the only other board member to speak was Jim Creagan, who agreed that the “bulk of the benefit is not coming to our district”, and added that often “when we turn over law enforcement to private entities – like red light cameras or private prisons – it can lead to some pretty poor outcomes”. He thanked Brunelli for flagging the issue for the board.

The use of cameras on the exteriors of school buses in the state is relatively new.

In 2019, New York State passed legislation (S.4524B/A.4950B) authorizing school districts to install safety cameras on school buses to catch drivers who unlawfully pass a stopped school bus and ensure student safety.   

In 2023, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services released data from their annual national survey indicating that more than 43.5 million stop-arm violations occur in the United States each year.
In 2024 Orange County launched its School Bus Safety Program to reduce the illegal passing of school buses and improve student safety, via Bus Patrol.

Cornwall shares a bus provider with Newburgh and Highland-Falls Fort Montgomery Central School District in West Point Tours. Thus, it was pointed out by some board members, some of the buses CCSD students will be riding on will be equipped with the cameras, but they won’t be turned on.

As a reminder: When a school bus stops and flashes its red lights, traffic approaching from either direction must stop before reaching the bus on a two-lane road, on multi-lane highways and on divided highways. Those who do pass a stopped school bus (serving the other school districts listed above) face fines of $250 and subsequent violations within an eighteen-month period are subject to a $25 increase in penalty, up to a maximum of $300.