Board approves districtwide bus camera and student-tracking upgrades, cites safety and reliability concerns
May 04, 2025 | LYON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, School Districts, Nevada
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The Lyon County School District Board unanimously approved upgrades to its school-bus camera/audio systems and an all‑in‑one student‑tracking and transportation management platform on April 22.
Executive Director of Operations Harmon Banes and Transportation Supervisor Ryan Robinson told trustees much of the district’s current bus-camera equipment is 8–25 years old and unreliable. Robinson described an installed, monitored solution used elsewhere in Nevada (Gatekeeper) and said staff visited districts that had implemented the system to evaluate reliability and workflows. Banes said the existing camera access process is “very labor intensive and prone to error.”
The package approved by the board included:
- a Gatekeeper-style audio/video system upgrade with up to eight cameras per bus, live system monitoring, GPS/cellular connectivity and a driver panic/alert button; and
- a Tyler Technologies Traversa transportation-management system offering routing, RFID/NFC boarding tablets reprogrammed from district-owned tablets, a parental app (MyRide), and integrated fleet management.
Banes and Robinson said the district already owns tablets for student scanning and that Tyler can reprogram them, which staff said will reduce one-time hardware cost. During the presentation staff referenced a one-time setup cost in the ~$152,000 range for the combined package and an ongoing annual cost presented in the motion of $116,125; staff said projected operational savings would offset some of the recurring costs over time.
Trustee Peterson moved approval of the upgrades with an ongoing annual cost of $116,125; Trustee Parsons seconded. Trustees discussed dispatching and emergency-alert routing; staff said transportation leads and the supervisor would receive alerts and that logistics for 24/7 monitoring are part of implementation planning. Student representative and public commenters noted that many families use personal phone tracking but trustees and staff said a district-level system offers verified ridership records and an auditable record for investigations.
The motion passed unanimously. Staff will proceed with procurement and vendor onboarding, reprogramming district tablets and incorporating panic‑button alerts into emergency response protocols.
Executive Director of Operations Harmon Banes and Transportation Supervisor Ryan Robinson told trustees much of the district’s current bus-camera equipment is 8–25 years old and unreliable. Robinson described an installed, monitored solution used elsewhere in Nevada (Gatekeeper) and said staff visited districts that had implemented the system to evaluate reliability and workflows. Banes said the existing camera access process is “very labor intensive and prone to error.”
The package approved by the board included:
- a Gatekeeper-style audio/video system upgrade with up to eight cameras per bus, live system monitoring, GPS/cellular connectivity and a driver panic/alert button; and
- a Tyler Technologies Traversa transportation-management system offering routing, RFID/NFC boarding tablets reprogrammed from district-owned tablets, a parental app (MyRide), and integrated fleet management.
Banes and Robinson said the district already owns tablets for student scanning and that Tyler can reprogram them, which staff said will reduce one-time hardware cost. During the presentation staff referenced a one-time setup cost in the ~$152,000 range for the combined package and an ongoing annual cost presented in the motion of $116,125; staff said projected operational savings would offset some of the recurring costs over time.
Trustee Peterson moved approval of the upgrades with an ongoing annual cost of $116,125; Trustee Parsons seconded. Trustees discussed dispatching and emergency-alert routing; staff said transportation leads and the supervisor would receive alerts and that logistics for 24/7 monitoring are part of implementation planning. Student representative and public commenters noted that many families use personal phone tracking but trustees and staff said a district-level system offers verified ridership records and an auditable record for investigations.
The motion passed unanimously. Staff will proceed with procurement and vendor onboarding, reprogramming district tablets and incorporating panic‑button alerts into emergency response protocols.
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