(WXYZ) — Parents of children attending Rochester Community Schools can now send their students on the school bus with extra ease. That's because the Rochester Community School district has created an app that will allow parents to track exactly where their child is.
The district says the app called Edulog took the district over a year to make. But, they believe it will help parents and bus drivers alike.
"It's an app that people can download and they can actually track in real time where their students are on a bus at any given time,” Rochester Community School Superintendent Robert Shaner said.
Rochester’s entire 124 bus fleet now has the GPS tracking system to make the app work.
The app will be able to show parents pickup and drop-off times.
It will even send push alerts to your phone with the bus is nearing the bus stop.
“Sometimes busses, because of traffic or weather, are slow, and people get nervous. People also have busy lives and need to know where their kids are at so they can plan for child care, and I think the app just really helps parents know where their kids are at and plan ahead,” Shaner said.
Shaner also believes the app will help with the bus driver shortage.
He says his district is still looking to hire as many drivers as possible.
Right now, they are down about 15%.
“Sometimes when we are trying to make our runs as efficient as possible because we are short drivers, that also causes delays,” he said.
The app was piloted at the end of last school year, but when school officially starts on August 29, it will be Edulog's official rollout.
“As we come online with a full implementation it is going to require some patience on people's part because I am sure we are going to have glitches. It’s pretty complicated,” superintendent Shaner said.
Parents in the area say there are other schools in metro Detroit with similar apps. For example, the Howell School District and the Northville School District.
If you want to know if your school district has a tracking app, call in and see if it's an option for you.
