Parents of bus riders in Cy-Fair ISD now have an easier way to monitor when their children enter and exit the bus due to the implementation of a new district program.
The district’s transportation department requested funding for a GPS program to count student movement on and off each school bus as part of the approved 2014 bond election. Last spring, the district selected the company Zonar to provide the modules that communicate with parents when children enter and exit the bus.
“This is about student safety and improvement of services,” said Matt Morgan, CFISD assistant superintendent of support services. “When you’re transporting 80,000 students to and from school, it’s important we know where students are exiting the bus and where they are.”
Each bus has a ZPass Reader that students will tap with their ID card when they get on and off the bus, which will send a text message to their parent or guardian.
“We do live in Houston, so buses can run late because of traffic,” Morgan said. “We have parents wanting to know where the bus is, and with the number of kids we were transporting, it was difficult to reach the transportation center or campus.”
The district piloted the program at Willbern Elementary School, Bleyl Middle School and Cypress Creek High School last spring. It was rolled out to 38 campuses across the district that are serviced by the Falcon and Eldridge transportation centers at the start of the 2015-16 school year.
“The goal is by the start of the 2016-17 school year, all campuses will be on board,” Morgan said.
The district also saw an opportunity to speed up service in the school cafeterias with the implementation of the ID cards. Instead of having to enter a six-digit pin number, students can now get their ID scanned to purchase their lunch at school, Morgan said.
If a student forgets his ID card, he can still ride the bus to school. However, each elementary student will receive two cards: One is attached to his backpack and another will be part of a classroom set.
“The backpack card is used for the bus and breakfast, and the classroom set is used for lunch and the library,” Morgan said. “Campuses were also provided printers so they can make temporary copies.”
Parents of students who would like to sign up for text message updates can visit
www.zpassplus.com.
Parents of bus riders in Cy-Fair ISD now have an easier way to monitor when their children enter and exit the bus due to the implementation of a new district program.
The district’s transportation department requested funding for a GPS program to count student movement on and off each school bus as part of the approved 2014 bond election. Last spring, the district selected the company Zonar to provide the modules that communicate with parents when children enter and exit the bus.
“This is about student safety and improvement of services,” said Matt Morgan, CFISD assistant superintendent of support services. “When you’re transporting 80,000 students to and from school, it’s important we know where students are exiting the bus and where they are.”
Each bus has a ZPass Reader that students will tap with their ID card when they get on and off the bus, which will send a text message to their parent or guardian.
“We do live in Houston, so buses can run late because of traffic,” Morgan said. “We have parents wanting to know where the bus is, and with the number of kids we were transporting, it was difficult to reach the transportation center or campus.”
The district piloted the program at Willbern Elementary School, Bleyl Middle School and Cypress Creek High School last spring. It was rolled out to 38 campuses across the district that are serviced by the Falcon and Eldridge transportation centers at the start of the 2015-16 school year.
“The goal is by the start of the 2016-17 school year, all campuses will be on board,” Morgan said.
The district also saw an opportunity to speed up service in the school cafeterias with the implementation of the ID cards. Instead of having to enter a six-digit pin number, students can now get their ID scanned to purchase their lunch at school, Morgan said.
If a student forgets his ID card, he can still ride the bus to school. However, each elementary student will receive two cards: One is attached to his backpack and another will be part of a classroom set.
“The backpack card is used for the bus and breakfast, and the classroom set is used for lunch and the library,” Morgan said. “Campuses were also provided printers so they can make temporary copies.”
Parents of students who would like to sign up for text message updates can visit www.zpassplus.com.
