Springfield school board approves funding to add cameras and improve safety on school buses

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Springfield Board of Education has voted nearly unanimously to approve more than half a million dollars to improve the safety of Springfield Public School buses.

The funding comes after an attempted hijacking of a Pershing Middle School bus in April.

Sara Berry, whose children attend school in Springfield, said even though her family was not directly affected by the hijacking, it was still a frightening situation.

“I mean, as a parent, that’s one of your biggest fears,” Barry says. “So I’m very happy to see that the school board is responding quickly and quickly to that and investing some money to make sure that things become safer.”

Currently, Springfield school buses have four to five interior cameras. The funding would upgrade the systems and give each bus a total of eight security cameras.

Keith Adams, director of transportation for Springfield Public Schools, says that in addition to replacing the cameras on the inside, new cameras will also be installed on the outside of the bus.

“The beauty of those external cameras is that when they turn on their left turn signal, there’s a screen in the driver’s area. That left camera turns on,” Adams said. “So they’re still using their mirrors, of course, but it’s a place where they can look even more to make sure there’s nothing in their blind spot.”

The new cameras are expected to be installed in July.