This is a great issue for discussion. Lots of places for miscommunications. Having dealt with this several times, here is what I have learned.
1. Not everytime, when people say they want to catch the vandals are they really willing to pay for that solution. Most often, it is less expensive to deter the behavior. I know they want to clear complaints, but, money tells the tale of true dedication.
2. Simple battery powered alarms like those travel alarms people use on their hotel doors would make enough racket to scare off some people. travel alarms Not too expensive.
3. Lock the bus doors with hasps and padlocks? Not too expensive.
4. Motion sensing floodlights on buiding with audio announcement? Not too expensive.
5. Temporary security guards deployment overnight. Good for a contract company.
Before we move straight into making battery powered systems and pulling cruddy lowlight video from a mobile system, I'd suggest an exploratory session with the end-user to really see what they want to achieve and what they can purchase. Public schools can be dreadfully underfunded.
There might be some easier solutions available.
Although, A nice battery powered, lowlight/IR, motion sensing, edge recording solution is sexy too. How many busses can we sell this into?
Regards, D