A Montgomery County Council committee voted to approve a supplemental appropriation for the county school system of $3.7 million.
It’s part of the arrangement that funnels, to Montgomery County Public Schools, revenues from tickets issued for passing stopped school buses. In turn, the schools pay Bus Patrol, the company that installed cameras on the school system’s bus fleet.
Drivers who pass stopped school buses are recorded on the cameras. Violators are fined $250 if the ticket is generated by the cameras. If a police officer issues a ticket, that costs drivers $570.
During the meeting of the council’s Education and Culture Committee, council member Craig Rice voiced his continuing support for the camera program.
Rice mentioned a recent report by the county’s inspector general that raised questions about the financial arrangement and said he’d been asked about the deal on social media.
“I don’t care if we get a single dime out of this. What I do hope is that we don’t have any children who are hit or killed as the result of somebody passing a school bus,” Rice said.
In a recent presentation by Montgomery County police, council members were shown videos captured by the cameras. In one case, a child was struck by a car, but police said the child was not seriously injured.
