One Houston school board member has an idea for how to pay for crossing guards at the city’s public schools -- installing “red light” cameras in school zones to ticket speeders -- but the school system administration says the idea won’t fly.
Larry Marshall, a trustee of the Houston Independent School District, has mentioned the idea of using the cameras in recent months as the school system struggles to come up with the $4 million it takes each year to fund some 600 crossing guards.
In an interview with Texas Watchdog, he reiterated that he’s serious about the idea.
“I would love for us (HISD) to get them in school zones,” Marshall said. “We have had several crossing guards appear before the board appealing for more help. … This would be an opportunity to not only protect kids but to generate some revenue.”
The school district says it’s being forced to pay the leftover costs of the crossing guards because the city of Houston does not have the money to cover it all.
When Marshall first brought up the idea of installing red light cameras in school zones in February, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier initially called it a “great idea.” In North Carolina, where Grier previously headed a school system, state law said “all proceeds from red light cameras go to schools,” he said.
But Houston voters put an end to the city’s red light camera program in last November’s election -- outlawing them.
Marshall does not see that as a problem, though.
“I don’t think they could remove” the cameras from HISD property through a similar referendum, Marshall said. “We are talking about a school domain. We’re not talking about the city. There would have to be some research done, but as I would see it, (the cameras) would be in a school domain, and we, as trustees, reserve the right to apply rules to those school zones.”
But HISD says it’s done the research, and the administration doesn’t think red light cameras in school zones would be possible.
“Based on our research, we do not believe HISD has the authority to install traffic law enforcement cameras in school zones for the purpose of issuing speeding tickets,” HISD spokesman Jason Spencer told Texas Watchdog in an e-mail Tuesday.
Randall Kubosh, a co-founder of Citizens Against Red Light Cameras, one group that fought against red light cameras in Houston, agreed. "HISD does not have authority to use cameras on the City of Houston streets,” he said. “Bottom line, they can't do it.”
But that isn’t going to stop Marshall. He says he will be looking for more information from the district.
“I will look for their final report and then see if there are any options,” Marshall said.
Marshall said he was “stunned” to see people vote for the removal of red light cameras throughout the city. “I guess I’m looking at it very basically, but it’s wrong to run a red light, and there should be consequences for a wrong,” he said.
The now-turned-off red light cameras were a moneymaker for city coffers, but none of the money from Houston cameras went to pay for school crossing guards, city spokeswoman Janice Evans said.
The chief of HISD’s police department said he’d entertain the idea only if the cameras were being installed as a means of making people slow down in the school zones to protect the students.
“If the board talks about revenue enhancements for red lights, that’s them,” HISD police chief Jimmy Dotson told Texas Watchdog in an interview Tuesday. “I am not going to get involved in that conversation, if it talks about revenue enhancement. If they are talking about safety, yeah, I can sit down and talk to them about it.”
Dotson says he has heard Marshall and other trustees discuss the idea during board meetings, but neither he nor anyone else in the HISD police department is looking into the possibility of HISD using red light cameras.
In an interview with Texas Watchdog, he reiterated that he’s serious about the idea.
“I would love for us (HISD) to get them in school zones,” Marshall said. “We have had several crossing guards appear before the board appealing for more help. … This would be an opportunity to not only protect kids but to generate some revenue.”
The school district says it’s being forced to pay the leftover costs of the crossing guards because the city of Houston does not have the money to cover it all.
When Marshall first brought up the idea of installing red light cameras in school zones in February, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier initially called it a “great idea.” In North Carolina, where Grier previously headed a school system, state law said “all proceeds from red light cameras go to schools,” he said.
But Houston voters put an end to the city’s red light camera program in last November’s election -- outlawing them.
Marshall does not see that as a problem, though.
“I don’t think they could remove” the cameras from HISD property through a similar referendum, Marshall said. “We are talking about a school domain. We’re not talking about the city. There would have to be some research done, but as I would see it, (the cameras) would be in a school domain, and we, as trustees, reserve the right to apply rules to those school zones.”
But HISD says it’s done the research, and the administration doesn’t think red light cameras in school zones would be possible.
“Based on our research, we do not believe HISD has the authority to install traffic law enforcement cameras in school zones for the purpose of issuing speeding tickets,” HISD spokesman Jason Spencer told Texas Watchdog in an e-mail Tuesday.
Randall Kubosh, a co-founder of Citizens Against Red Light Cameras, one group that fought against red light cameras in Houston, agreed. "HISD does not have authority to use cameras on the City of Houston streets,” he said. “Bottom line, they can't do it.”
But that isn’t going to stop Marshall. He says he will be looking for more information from the district.
“I will look for their final report and then see if there are any options,” Marshall said.
Marshall said he was “stunned” to see people vote for the removal of red light cameras throughout the city. “I guess I’m looking at it very basically, but it’s wrong to run a red light, and there should be consequences for a wrong,” he said.
The now-turned-off red light cameras were a moneymaker for city coffers, but none of the money from Houston cameras went to pay for school crossing guards, city spokeswoman Janice Evans said.
The chief of HISD’s police department said he’d entertain the idea only if the cameras were being installed as a means of making people slow down in the school zones to protect the students.
“If the board talks about revenue enhancements for red lights, that’s them,” HISD police chief Jimmy Dotson told Texas Watchdog in an interview Tuesday. “I am not going to get involved in that conversation, if it talks about revenue enhancement. If they are talking about safety, yeah, I can sit down and talk to them about it.”
Dotson says he has heard Marshall and other trustees discuss the idea during board meetings, but neither he nor anyone else in the HISD police department is looking into the possibility of HISD using red light cameras.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Put our RSS feeds in your newsreader.
Photo: Red light camera in downtown Houston, Jennifer Peebles/Texas Watchdog.
Comments
RSS feed
StumbleUpon
Twitter
Newsvine
Facebook
Digg
De.licio.us
YouTube
