Eanes ISD introduced a new program in January designed to catch drivers who fail to observe school bus stop arms.

The Stop Arm Camera Program will likely begin operating in February by ticketing violators of school bus stop arms, EISD Transportation Director Tim Wysong said. The project will allow cameras on EISD school buses to record drivers who disregard bus stop arms as children are picked up and dropped off by school buses, he said.

“When our students are on the [school] bus, we know they are relatively safe,” Wysong said. “The biggest danger is the exposure [to motorists] when students are getting on and off the bus.”

Texserve—an agency operated by Dallas County Schools that provides districts with transportation, instructional and technology services—will monitor the bus footage for violations, he said. If Texserve identifies a violation, the agency will send the information to the municipality where the violation occurred for review and subsequent ticketing, he said.

“Ticketing is not the goal [of the program],” Wysong said. “I would love it if we don’t have any violations. Our only interest is increasing safety and reducing exposure for our students. It’s as simple as that.”

“If my officers observe a stop-arm violation, they will still ticket the driver,” said Scott Gerdes, West Lake Hills Police chief. “My officers can’t be everywhere all the time, though. So, if a program like this helps keep the kids safe, anything we can do like that is a plus to the community.”

Implementation of the program is at no cost to the district and will serve as a source of revenue, EISD Superintendent Tom Leonard said.

BusGuard, the company that installs the cameras and recording equipment on school buses, will keep 60 percent of the ticket fine revenue, with the school district and municipality each splitting the remaining 40 percent of the fine, he said.