Transportation official announces bus‑tracking trial; says half of routes have seat belts

Transportation staff told the work session the district will trial a parent‑facing bus tracker in May that will let parents see when a bus arrives at their stop and will be deployed systemwide when school resumes.

"This is where we're gonna roll out in May where parents can see when the bus has come into their house," the transportation official said, calling the system a trial run that "is working pretty good" and that appears to pay for itself through route consolidation.

On safety equipment, the transportation official said the state funded seat belts on many route buses through a grant: "Out of our route buses, 31 route buses, 15 of them have seat belts," the official said, and confirmed that new buses ordered for next year will include seat belts.

The official described routine driver training and bus evacuation drills: staff said drivers retrain twice a year and that schools will run evacuation practice for students during the coming week.

Board members and staff also discussed driver recruitment; transportation staff said driver turnover has been low recently and credited recent pay increases as a factor in retention.

No formal policy decision was taken at the work session; staff said they will continue the trial and monitor performance before recommending district‑wide deployment.