Gwinnett County to spend $3 million on new school buses

Gwinnett County school board members approved a staff plan late Thursday to spend about $3.2 million to purchase 37 school buses.

The school district is using money collected from its school bus camera safety program to buy the vehicles, Gwinnett spokeswoman Sloan Roach said. Gwinnett began placing video cameras on its buses in 2014 to catch motorists driving past stopped school buses.

Gwinnett administrators have stressed the need to upgrade its aging school bus fleet. The average age of a Gwinnett school bus is 17 years old, nearly twice the national average, officials said in one presentation. Some were made in 1986.