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Concerns about bullying on the school buses sparked the move, superintendent says.

DALLAS TWP. – The Dallas School Board approved the installation of cameras on 21 Emanuel company buses and eight district-owned vehicles at its meeting Monday night.

The audio-visual recording equipment will cost $37,820, all of which is funded through federal stimulus funds, a transportation maintenance fund and savings from neglecting to issue contracts for certain vehicles.

The issue first came to the board in November, when a resident spoke at a meeting about bullying on buses. Since then, Superintendent Frank Galicki said he has had meetings with bus drivers and researched the issue extensively.

He said there has been an increase in the number of incidents reported on buses since September, and the “heightened sense of urgency” was the reason he has given this project an “aggressive” timeline.

Galicki said the district had cameras on buses in 2002, but they used videotapes and were also not always present on buses.

The digital cameras will provide three views for review and also enable storage of recorded material for up to 30 days. Galicki said the footage will be reviewed from buses if there is a concern or a report of an incident on buses.

The cameras will be purchased through Wolfington Body Co., a company in accordance with the state cooperative purchasing program, and are manufactured by Seon Design Inc.

Board members Karen Kyle and Dennis Gochoel Jr. voted against the camera purchases. Kyle said she would like to see the funds allocated toward more positive projects for students.

Galicki hopes the cameras will be installed and functional by Jan. 18.

In other business, the board also approved four change orders totaling $10,631 for the high school construction project.

The change orders referred to issues with site lighting, replacement of a catch basin and roof repairs.

The board also approved an amendment to its professional services agreement with K&W Engineering for additional services rendered on a basin redesign and replacement of a water line. The amount, $10,000, is payable to Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates, which has a contract with K&W Engineering.

What’s next

The next work session meeting of the Dallas School Board will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 3 in the administration building.