Macon school speed zone cams will fund a new position in the school district
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bibb County using $345K in speed cam funds to hire a truancy officer.
- Windsor Academy receives $109K for new security cameras via camera program.
- School zone speeding citations resume August 4 with automatic enforcement.
Weeks after the Bibb County School Board rejected the idea of hiring an officer to fight absenteeism, the position has been given new life thanks to money from the automatic school speed zone cameras at Macon schools.
The Bibb County Board of Commissioners approved using $345,000 from the school speeding cameras to fund a truancy officer job at the Bibb County School District for three years. Commissioners made the decision at a July 15 meeting. The truancy officer position will help counter chronic absenteeism throughout the county, and also work with families to find solutions, according to Superintendent Dan Sims.
The position was previously rejected by the Bibb County School District because the school system didn’t have the money needed for it. Two other positions were voted down at the time: a K-5 ELA coordinator and an executive director of elementary services.
“We are here to do what is best for our students and the school system, and I feel like it is best to try to keep them in school and try to make sure that their literacy is up to par,” Myrtice Johnson, president of the Bibb County School Board, said.
Johnson voted to approve the three positions in the school board meeting, but was overruled.
Superintendent Dan Sims and Mayor Lester Miller pushed county commissioners to approve this funding. The money is contingent on the district hiring a truancy officer, Chris Floore, chief communications officer for Macon-Bibb County, said. According to Sims, the search for people to fill the position is ongoing.
Windsor Academy also will get $109,138 from the school speed camera money to install a new security camera system. The private school opted into the school zone camera effort and requested this money to bolster public safety.
Macon-Bibb County since 2022 has used school zone camera revenue to fund:
- Public safety employee raises
- School Resource Officer and Crossing Guard salaries
- School security cameras and systems
- Crosswalk improvements
- Flock, Verkada, and Adapt to Solve cameras
- Emergency access Knox boxes
- Flashing school zone lights
- Public safety vehicles and equipment
School zone citations will resume Aug. 4, 2025 on the first day of school, officials said. People driving 11 mph or more will get an automatic citation in school zones that have opted in to the school zone camera effort.