Palestine ISD transportation using modern technology to track students | Education

Technology is driving innovation in Palestine Independent School District’s transportation department as drivers use tablets with software to track students and follow routes. The new system is streamlining processes by providing instant updates on the status of roughly 1,400, or one-third of the district’s bus riders.

The tablets are used to scan student ID cards or QR codes for attendance. They also direct drivers along the bus routes with GPS software.

The transportation office receives real-time information about the status of each child as he or she boards and disembarks the bus. Parents can also receive updates about their children’s status when they use an app called BusQuest.

The tablets with GPS tracking ability and new routes were introduced in 2020, but the new student tracking system was initiated this August.

Emails inviting parents to download and log onto the app were sent to parents in August, while parents of new enrollees also receive invitations. By registering with the app, parents receive notifications when their children get on or off the bus, and parents waiting at a bus stop are notified when the bus approaches.

The district has 22 regular routes, four special education routes and eight trip buses, so the location of a student or a bus can now be tracked from the transportation department’s headquarters.

The previous system was pen and paper, with bus drivers taking attendance by hand and following printed routes.

Now all student bus riders are required to wear IDs so they can be scanned. Middle and high school students who own smartphones take a photo of the ID to show the bus driver in case their ID is misplaced.

Breck Quarles, director of transportation at PISD for six years, said the new software has improved parents’ ability to track their children’s location.

“The roll-out has been smooth,” Quarles said. “Our number of phone calls has been reduced greatly,”

The transportation software, known as EZRoute, is one of a dozen or more similar companies. Quarles chose EZRoute because of their responsive customer service.

Quarles has received positive comments from parents who use the app, and he’s surprised that even the most technologically challenged bus drivers like using the new system.

Cindy Sykes, the school district’s routing coordinator and a bus driver, agreed.

“There are drivers who were complaining in the beginning that come back now and they’re happy to have the technology,” Sykes said. “The drivers and monitors have come around, and now they appreciate it.”

For information call the PISD Transportation Department at 903-731-8038.