By Adam Swift
The city council accepted a state law which will allow the school department to install and operate a school bus violation detection monitoring system and enforce violations by motorists.
There were some questions about the cost and operation of the program at last week’s council meeting.
However, Council President Roberto Jimenez-Rivera, who introduced the motion alongside Councilor-at-Large Kelly Garcia, said the vote merely allows the schools to operate a violation monitoring system and does not call for any city expenditures at this time.
“I think we can all agree on this board how important it is to keep our students and our children safe,” said Garcia.
Students are at risk every time the school bus stops with the stop sign because people continue to drive by, Garcia said.
“Reckless motorists illegally pass stopped school buses more than 45 million times each year in the United States,” said Garcia. “Massachusetts, four years in a row, had the worst driving habits in the nation and in conclusion, people who get a citation become less likely to ever break this law again. Repeat offenders dwindle to under 10 percent.”
District 1 Councilor Todd Taylor moved that the motion be taken up in a subcommittee in conference for further discussion on the particulars and cost of the program. While the motion had been discussed in the past, it was during a prior session of the city council.
“I’m all for kids’ safety, but I want to know how this is going to do that or how much it is actually going to cost and all the particulars before we actually vote,” said Taylor.
Jimenez-Rivera noted that the last time the motion came up for a vote, there was a divided vote, along with several councilors who were not present, so it did not pass.
“This gives Chelsea Public Schools the option of using traffic enforcement cameras to hold people accountable for blowing by school buses and potentially hitting a child,” said Jimenez-Rivera. “I remember having this conversation, because this does not appropriate any money; there is nothing financial to this. This simply allows the school department to then be able to spend their money; we don’t spend money now, we don’t spend money later, this is simply the school department, as they are putting their proposal they will spend school money.”
Taylor noted that while the school department can ultimately decide to use its own money to fund the program, the city just gave the schools an additional $2 million to help shrink a budget shortfall for the coming school year.
“I think it deserves at least a conversation about it before we do that,” said Taylor.
Jimenez-Rivera said he didn’t believe the council needed a subcommittee for the motion, since it is up to the school department to decide how it allocates its funds.
The council voted to approve the motion, with Taylor voting present and the other councilors in attendance voting in favor.