Reprint from the Progress Times - February 8, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

Finance Committee recommends updating video recorders

 

By Rick Reynoso

The Mission Consolidated Independent School District (MCISD) Finance Committee recommended an approval to purchase digital video recorders (DVR) for the district's transportation department, with an expected cost of $172,500, on Tuesday, February 5.

Coordinator for Transportation Carlos D. Lerma expressed the need for updating the surveillance equipment on the buses, citing that currently 55 percent of the buses use video-cassette recorders that use magnetic tape.

"I started researching what we had and what other districts around the state and locally," said Lerma. "I found that about 80 percent of the districts have a digital format for surveillance inside the buses."

Lerma said that not only is the equipment out of date, but the physical limitations pose problems with tapes getting cut or jammed in the drives. He also said that the current capacity for video is very small.

"We have a six hour sliding window to view anything," said Lerma. "So if an occurrence happens and it does not get reported within six hours, we've lost it. That places a burden on us proving who vandalized a bus, who broke a window on a bus, who did what on a bus."

According to Lerma two prototype DVR systems are currently being tested on some of the buses. He said the new systems hold approximately six weeks of data. Lerma said that the new systems came in handy when an incident occurred at Leal Elementary.

"We had an incident where there was one first grader kicking and scratching another," said Lerma. "Lo and behold, it was a bus with one of the prototypes and you can see the first grader kicking the head of the student. So the benefit is not that it's going to eliminate problems, but it'll serve as a deterrent."

Committee member Dan Gerlach expressed the need for updating the equipment.

"For the safety of our kids, I think we really need this," said Gerlach.

Also on the agenda was a request for approval to purchase a Global Positioning System (GPS) for the Transportation Department. Lerma said that the GPS, which would cost the district $127,000, would be used to enhance efficiency for the transportation fleet and that it could also be utilized as an emergency communications system. He said that if the power went out in the district, there would be no way to communicate with each other. The GPS would help to eliminate this problem.

"This is the same communication system that's being used by Mission Police Department and Mission Fire Department," said Lerma. "Using this, we would be on the same frequency."

Lerma went on to say that if the request was approved the current equipment would be transferred to the maintenance department, which does not have any communication equipment currently.

"We all rely on personal cell phones right now," said Lerma. "There is a deficiency in communications between the base and the guys that are out there working."

The committee recommended the request for the GPS system.