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Leonia board hears questions about bus cameras, GPS and several line-item expenditures
Summary
During public comment at the Leonia Public School District board meeting, a resident raised questions about bus camera live-streaming and GPS, out‑of‑district tuition and several bills; district officials answered that cameras stream live and record, GPS and speed data are tracked, and staff clarified the purpose of listed expenditures.
A resident who identified himself as Arthur, of 125 Realty, used the public comment period to ask whether cameras on district buses stream live, whether the buses have GPS and how several bills on the meeting warrant list should be interpreted.
"I had a question about the, like, on the cameras on the buses ... is that live stream or live monitor being screen watching cameras? Or is it blind? Does it just go to recording and even if there's an incident?" Arthur asked during the board's public-comments period.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Karamanos replied that the district's bus cameras are live-stream capable and record. "We do the Wi‑Fi is live. So we don't have someone actually sitting there the entire time the buses are out watching, but it is live streaming ... and it's recorded," she said, adding that GPS is also installed on the buses.
Business Administrator Eric Thomasovich confirmed the monitoring capabilities and added operational detail: "It is a live monitoring, which also records GPS. It also tracks speed, location, all that. But the main objective of the cameras wasn't GPS. We already had GPS installed on the buses, but the cameras are constantly recording. So at any time, we could always ... upload that data, and retrieve data that has happened already."
Arthur also asked about listed bills on the warrant, including a roughly $10,000 line for an "AI tool" and about a $9,000 line for Cornerstone Day School. Karamanos said the AI entry refers to an AI tool the district provides to staff and students to support writing and instruction and described Cornerstone as an out‑of‑district tuition placement: "That 9,000 is a tuition at a district student ... a tuition cost for a student we're sending ... a placement relating to a student that were placed out of district," she said.
Board staff answered additional questions Arthur raised about facilities revenue and change orders. Thomasovich said roughly $74,000 in facilities rental revenue and associated custodial reimbursements (about $52,000) are charged under the district's facilities‑use policy to offset overtime and maintenance costs. He described an $8,700 change order on a classroom renovation as additional masonry work identified after design review and approved through a local cooperative vendor process.
The public comment exchange ended after the board and administrators answered Arthur's line‑by‑line questions.
The board did not take any formal action on the topics raised during that public‑comment exchange; the discussion was informational and staff indicated they would follow up if additional detail was requested.
