In an ongoing effort to keep students safe, Elk Island Public Schools are offering a new program which allows parents to keep a closer eye on their children as they travel to school.
The system is powered by GPS tracking devices, which have been installed on every bus. Each student will be given a high tech bus pass that they will be required to swipe every time they get on and off the bus.
“We would be able to track all the students and the buses live and watch them travelling,” says Lisa-Marie Weder with Elk Island Public Schools.
Elk Island Public Schools bus more than 8,000 students in a large geographical area, and is the first school division in Canada to use student tracking. It spent $260,000 equipping 170 buses with scanners and GPS units to allow administration to track the routes as well as any problems the buses may have.
“Elk Island tries to put student safety first and we think that’s going to help us and enhance this,” says Weder.
The “My Stop” feature allows parents and students to access live information by using a smart phone, tablet, or computer to view the current location of the bus and the estimated time of arrival.
This feature is something Zoe Sloan says is really important to her. Her son Riley began taking the bus last year to his kindergarten class and says he missed the bus several times.
“You can make sure that your kid has got on the bus for sure because you can actually track them,” she says adding, “It does add a great amount of peace of mind just knowing that I can open my laptop or check on my phone and see that my boy is on the bus or even if it’s delayed.”
It’s a feature even older students are fond of. Parents can’t “spy” on their children, the software doesn’t let parents track where their child is, only that they got on and off the bus.
“I think it’s a really good idea because then kids can’t get lost as easily, and also, if you’re waiting for the bus, you can track where it is,” says grade 11 student, Breanne Duguay.
Plus, they say, it’ll really come in handy on those bitterly cold, winter days.
“I can go on my phone and go to the “My Stop” and then I can see where my bus is and how long it’s going to take to get here and if it’s late, or something,” Duguay says. “I can stay in my house if the bus is late.”
With files from Fletcher Kent.
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