Some school districts across Michigan are implementing GPS tracking technology on buses that gives parents real time information about their kids. Districts including Bay City and Williamston, as well as several in metro-Detroit that have added these systems.
At the start of this school year, MPSS gave over 1,000 students free ID badges, that they scan when they get on and off the bus. Parents get a notification when their child scans their ID with the MyRideK12 app. Parents also receive notifications about delays.
“So far, most of our parents have been all receptive,” said Robin Lott, the MPSS transportation director. “It is a safety and security measure; to know that their children are safe, and they are where they are supposed to be.”
Lott said the technology also allows students to ride the bus without a badge. “We certainly would not deny them a ride to school,” she said. Students can get a replacement ID for $5.
The buses are equipped with a tablet-like navigation device that sits to the right of the steering wheel. It allows drivers to manually input a student onto the bus and tells drivers how many students are usually at a given stop.
“If there was a student who somehow did slip by, didn't scan or wasn't hand loaded, at the end of all of our runs, we do have a child safety alarm,” Lott explained. “The driver does have to get up out of the seat, review the bus and get to the back of the bus and push an alert button that the students are all off.”
Lott added that the new technology is starting to take off in popularity with other schools. She’s in an email list with other districts and “maybe a quarter of the districts has started this technology or has shown interest in it.”
