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WUNC's education coverage is led by reporters Dave Dewitt and Reema Khrais. Dewitt has been with the station since 2003. Khrais is focused on Education Policy Reporting. Browse recent stories here.

This Isn't A Rockwell Song; It's Wake County School Busses

Dave DeWitt

Students riding Wake County school buses will soon have a new reason to smile: They'll be on camera.

The district plans to install security cameras on 740 of its buses by June.

The project has been two years in the making, and is costing Wake County schools $1.7 million, according to a district spokesperson.

School officials hope the cameras will deter student bullying and misbehavior, reasons bus drivers often cite for quitting.

Four cameras in each bus will provide complete interior coverage. That includes the back seats, which drivers typically have difficulty monitoring. Recording will be continuous, and the footage wirelessly downloadable by school officials.

Wake County started testing security cameras in 2015, and 102 of the district's buses already have them.

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Lisa Philip is an occasional contributor to WUNC. Previously, she covered education for the station and covered schools in Howard County, Maryland for the Baltimore Sun newspapers.
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