Six Rockland Districts Enroll Buses in School Safety Initiative

Rockland Daily Staff

Six Rockland County school districts have officially opted into the Rockland County School Bus Safety program announced near the end of the 2022-2023 school year, as reported by Rockland Daily here. 

The districts that have opted in include Pearl River UFSD, Nanuet UFSD, North Rockland CSD, Clarkstown CSD, Suffern CSD, and Nyack UFSD.

Every day in New York State, an estimated 50,000 drivers illegally pass stopped school buses, putting the lives and safety of children at risk. To make roads safer for children, the County of Rockland has partnered with BusPatrol to launch a violator-funded business model allowing districts to equip school buses with cameras on the bus stop-arms at no cost.

Districts that have not opted in to the free program as of yet include the East Ramapo Central School District (ERCSD), South Orangetown, and BOCES.

“This is a completely free program that without a doubt will protect children from being killed, and we’re shocked we don’t have 100% participation from the schools yet,” says County Executive Ed Day. “I urge parents in the districts which have not opted in to contact their school superintendents and request they do so expeditiously.”

"There is a presentation scheduled at the August 29 board meeting to review the School Bus Safety Program," ERCSD Board President Shimmy Rose shares with Rockland Daily. "The conversation on the school budget took up a large portion of our meetings at the end of the year, but we are going to move ahead with this as expediently as possible. We expect It will go up for approval at the September meeting."

So far, 165 buses have been equipped across the Suffern, Nanuet, and Pearl River School Districts, with 111 tickets issued in only six weeks. The County anticipates another 300 buses to be equipped in North Rockland and Clarkstown by September.

Drivers caught by those cameras illegally passing activated stop-arms on school buses will then be issued the following penalties by mail:

• 1st Violation $250
• 2nd Violation $275
• 3rd Violation $300
• (within an 18-month period)

A compilation of videos of some of the violates can be viewed here.