COLUMBUS, Ind. — Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. will spend $300,000 on upgrades to school bus camera systems, with the aim of deterring and enforcing stop arm violations.
The school board voted Monday night to approve an additional appropriation to add the cameras. Director of Operations Brett Boezeman has described the appropriation as a “cash drawdown” from BCSC’s operations budget to help pay for the project.
According to school officials, 12 out of BCSC’s 120 school buses already have stop arm cameras. Boezeman said at an previous meeting that the school corporation hopes to make it a full 120 by Aug. 1, with the retrofit taking about six to eight months.
The project also entails other upgrades for buses as needed, including higher video quality and installation of dash cameras. The total cost of the stop arm additions and system upgrades is about $300,000.
The announcement of bus camera upgrades comes about five months after the death of 16-year-old Columbus East High School student Lily J. Streeval on Aug. 30. Shiam Sunder Shankara Subramanian, 25, was arrested following Lily’s death. He is accused of attempting to drive around a stopped school bus with warning lights flashing and arm signal extended, court records state. The victim was struck as she was attempting to board the bus, according to court documents.
Formal charges filed against the defendant include leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury, a Level 4 felony, and passing a school bus when arm signal is extended causing death, a Level 5 felony.
In Indiana, it is illegal for motorists to pass a bus that is stopped, with red lights flashing and the stop arm extended.
This applies on all roads, with the exception of highways divided by a barrier, such as a cable barrier, concrete wall or grassy median — drivers on those roads only have to stop if traveling in the same direction as the school bus.
For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
