Mineola school district opts into North Hempstead's BusPatrol program

The Mineola school district has opted into North Hempstead's school bus camera ticketing program, joining a handful of other districts in the town.

The town board on Tuesday authorized an agreement between the district and BusPatrol America, a Virginia-based company that uses stop-arm cameras to record images of passing drivers, who are then sent tickets in the mail.

The board voted 7-0 to approve the agreement. The school board had already signed off on the agreement.

Mineola joins the Herricks, Great Neck, Sewanhaka, Roslyn and Port Washington school districts already in the program. The decision was rooted in the district’s desire to maintain the “safety and well-being of our students,” Catherine Fishman, interim district superintendent, said in a statement.

“The program is solely intended to enhance student safety by providing additional resources to help protect students both inside and outside the bus,” she said. Fishman was appointed interim superintendent in February following the resignation of former Superintendent Michael Nagler. 

Ryan Monell, a BusPatrol spokesperson, said in a statement that the company “looks forward to partnering with the Mineola community.” 

“BusPatrol’s goal will be to continue to ensure the journey to and from school every day is as safe as possible,” Monell said.

Participating districts do not receive revenue from the program. North Hempstead collects 55% of the revenue, while BusPatrol gets 45%, Newsday previously reported.

North Hempstead's share from the program last year was more than $3.1 million, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Wendy Bonczek, a Mineola school district bus driver, said during Tuesday's board meeting that drivers "just go right past the stop sign" during her route about once a week. 

"Hopefully people take this very important advice and stop. They've got to stop when they see a school bus," Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said during the meeting. 

The program has attracted scrutiny in other towns. 

In the Town of Hempstead, more than 80,000 school bus tickets were issued over a two-year period in and around districts that never agreed to participate in the program, Newsday reported in January of last year. Another roughly 36,000 tickets were issued in similar areas in 2025, Newsday reported in June.

BusPatrol offered to compensate at least two districts in Hempstead to incentivize them to join the program, Newsday reported last October. 

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.