The East Ramapo Central School District (ERCSD) made a decisive move last night, voting in favor of becoming the seventh school district in Rockland to join the newly announced Rockland County School Bus Safety program. This decision comes on the heels of the program’s introduction at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, as reported here on Monsey Scoop.
ERCSD follows in the footsteps of six other districts in the county: Pearl River UFSD, Nanuet UFSD, North Rockland CSD, Clarkstown CSD, Suffern CSD, and Nyack UFSD, all of which have pledged their support to enhance the safety measures for their school-going students.
However, specifics regarding the installation timeline were not provided at the recent ERCSD board meeting. The initiation of the installation process is set to begin promptly, but its completion is contingent on vendor availability.
The impetus for such a program can’t be understated. In New York State alone, an alarming 50,000 drivers are estimated to pass stopped school buses illegally each day, jeopardizing the safety of young students. To combat this, Rockland County has entered into a partnership with BusPatrol, initiating a violator-funded model. This will enable school districts to outfit their buses with specialized cameras on the bus stop-arms at no financial burden to them.
Notably, South Orangetown and BOCES remain undecided, having not yet committed to the safety initiative.