Lewis-Palmer D-38 first in southern CO to debut new bus tracking tech for parents, drivers
MONUMENT, Colo. (KRDO) - Parents in Monument sent their kids back to school Wednesday. And they may have noticed a big upgrade if their kids ride the bus.
Lewis-Palmer D-38 became the first school district in southern Colorado, and among a very small handful of schools along the front range as a whole, to start using Smart Tag.
Smart Tag, a relatively new company based out of Texas, is a software program installed on a bus driver's tablet. The features it provides instantly launch bus drivers, riders, and parents into the 21st century.
The program gives turn-by-turn directions for the bus driver, tracks bus maintenance, shows parents – with alerts – where the bus is on their child's route; it even makes sure the correct students make it on their assigned bus.
Rachel Hetrick is a D-38 bus driver who has a morning route in the Woodmoor area. She loves it, especially while getting to know the students on her route.
"It will pull up their picture, their student picture, as well as what grade they're in and it does help with learning new students a lot faster," she said following her route Wednesday morning.
Julie Abeyta runs the D-38 transportation department. She says before Smart Tag she was using several apps to run her operation, therefore, she says this new venture has saved the district money. However, the most important feature that Smart Tag brings is safety.
"It can be very daunting if you're not familiar with a route. This alleviates all that anxiety," said Abeyta.
"It's a really great device to really assist the overall, and improve the safety the time of the kids are on the bus," she said.
Shannon Viera works for Smart Tag and was with Abeyta and other bus drivers at their control center in Monument early Wednesday morning. She's helping bus drivers with the learning curve. She also noted how badly the program is needed.
"Transportation has been stuck in the archaic ages and drivers have typically driven routes with a paper handbook in hand, and fifty screaming kids behind them," said Viera.
Like most school districts in southern Colorado, D38 is always looking for more bus drivers. If you're interested in learning more or applying for a bus driving job, contact Abeyta at jabeyta@lewispalmer.org or call 719-481-1889 extension 10355.
