COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) – As the new school year begins, the Muscogee County School District is turning to technology to ensure the safety of students who ride the bus to work.
The district uses 265 buses every day to transport thousands of children to and from school.
The district understands parents’ concerns and has introduced the Stopfinder app, a state-of-the-art solution designed to give parents peace of mind by securely tracking their children’s return.
“We have it set up so that they can create a geofencing or geo-alert code based on their child’s stop and school. Anytime the bus enters that radius, they get an alert,” said Geofrey Jackson, MCSD transportation director.
Designed for parents, this app offers a user-friendly interface and a straightforward registration process.
“All you have to do is go to any app store or Google Play store, download the app, sign up, set a username and password, and you’re ready to go,” he explained.
For those who cannot download the app directly, the school’s transportation department facilitates access by sending a direct link to parents who already participate in the transportation program.
“Hopefully this will give parents more reassurance that their child has been picked up,” Jackson said. “Unfortunately, we are not yet at the point where we have a system in place to know that the child actually got on the bus.”
The app serves as an additional layer of security and provides real-time updates and alerts.
Jackson emphasizes that the Stopfinder app is not the only student safety improvement this year.
“When you drive through the school zone and see those yellow lights, please obey the speed limits,” he said. “This is extremely important because some of these school zones now have cameras recording images.”
The district has also installed RedSpeed cameras on buses to monitor and improve traffic safety.
“We’re ready to go. We had preschool through second grade this morning, which is a trial run for us,” he added. “And then we’ll have all grades, which we’ve been doing all summer. So all the buses will be running tomorrow.”
As the bus fleet prepares for the new school year, Jackson advises parents to contact the transportation office if they have any issues with the app or bus services. He also notes that the district is actively recruiting more bus drivers to join its team.
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