William Penn SD to add 25 electric buses, install AI safety cameras and parent tracking app

Ursula Reinos, leader of William Penn School District’s transportation division, told the property committee on June 2 that the district will receive 25 electric full‑size school buses on Nov. 3 and expects supporting charging infrastructure to be in place by the end of August. Reinos said the 25 buses represent about one quarter of the district’s routes and will be deployed first on internal district routes rather than routes serving out‑of‑district partners.

“First Student is the first location here on the East Coast to participate in the electric bus program,” Reinos said, adding that the district is taking the change in part for student health and environmental reasons. She said the district’s current on‑time performance is about 95 percent.

Reinos also described technology the district will use to monitor and coach drivers. “First Student has absolutely invested in an AI‑based program called Samsara,” she said, noting the system uses camera angles, driver‑facing features and behavior recognition to identify drowsiness, phone use and other safety‑relevant events for coaching and recognition.

Reinos highlighted the FirstView tracking app that parents can download to see bus locations and receive notifications when a bus is delayed. She said the app has reduced the number of parent phone calls about routes; in one recent sample she reported receiving five calls about buses in a day.

Board members asked about fleet coverage and deployment. Reinos said the initial 25 buses will be full‑size vehicles assigned to full‑sized routes (about 25–30 internal district routes) and that the district plans to use early deployments to maximize environmental and operational impact.

The district did not present procurement contract documents, cost per vehicle, the vendor for buses, or funding details during the presentation; those items were not specified in the committee remarks.

Next steps: infrastructure work through August, bus deliveries beginning Nov. 3, and phased deployment on internal routes.