The Becton Regional High School Board of Education has voted to install surveillance cameras on all of its school buses in order to ensure the safety of students and faculty in the case of an incident occurring either inside or outside of the school’s buses.

“The district is extremely advanced when it comes to the safety and security of our students and staff,” said Acting Superintendent/Principal Dr. Sforza. “We utilize the latest technology and resources to make sure our students are safe inside and outside of the building.” The funds for the security equipment were taken from the school’s capital reserve account.

The high school’s bus cameras are equipped with special features, such as video and audio synchronized to specific GPS coordinates, which can track the location of the bus, any route it has taken, and the speed at which the vehicle is traveling.

The new equipment also includes “indisputable audio and visual factual evidence” that records the events that occur on the bus. Additionally, the cameras have added audio and visual features, and the data they collect can be downloaded in various forms.

One of the primary goals of the cameras is to increase accountability for students and bus drivers in the case that an issue occurs that requires investigation. If so, a component of the surveillance system has the ability to blur out specific students’ faces and focus solely on the incident or individuals that are being investigated.

Furthermore, if the bus is not “meeting the standards for appropriate driving,” the surveillance system has the ability to generate an automatic warning email to the school’s administration. Another component that was recently installed was the ability for bus drivers to press a button to document precisely what time, place, and location an incident took place inside or outside of the bus.

“Each year we add surveillance cameras to locations that we may feel are zones that need more coverage. We feel, right now, that we have a large majority of the district’s areas inside and outside covered, but at the end of each year, we do a security and safety assessment of other areas that may need additional surveillance,” said the school’s acting superintendent/principal.

Areas of the high school where additional cameras have also been installed this year include the cafeteria, media center, and gymnasium.

The high school’s administration noted that they pride themselves on being one of the most advanced high schools in the state of New Jersey when it comes to safety and security, and the board of education does not hesitate in taking measures to ensure the protection of everyone that attends the school.

Dr. Sforza further explained that Becton Regional High School always tries to be “ahead of the curve when discussing the implementation of new safety and measures.”