Cape Coral Charter Schools seeks to upgrade bus fleet with HD cameras

Cape Coral Charter Schools upgraded six buses with new camera technology over the summer with the hope of equipping the entire fleet in the years to come.

Transportation Supervisor Jamie Cooper says the new cameras allow the schools to more clearly identify students—so clearly they can see a child chewing—for the purposes of contact tracing and helping them determine if a student needs to quarantine, as well as allowing principals and bus drivers to review footage for disciplinary action.

“What’s important to me is our student safety, that’s my number one priority.” Cooper said.

The cameras will also track each bus driver’s driving habits.

“It allows us to record five signal inputs, so we can track the stop arm, brake lights, warning, turn signals and that is important for accident investigation as well as training” Cooper said. “We can track speed and location.”

Two of their buses have forward-facing cameras, allowing them to capture video of anyone who passes a stopped bus. That’s something Cooper wants all the buses to have. If voted for by Cape Coral Charter Schools governing board, the remaining 12 buses in Cape Coral Charter’s fleet will be brought up to speed with HD cameras, replacing the current decade-old analog system.

“It’s essential to have that and to have that working well so you can see exactly what’s going on, because you know the school buses are an extension of the school, so we have cameras inside the school so it’s important that we have working cameras on the buses as well,” Cooper said.

That camera footage stays archived for the entire school year.