Ohio County Schools will soon use digital identification cards to track students who ride the bus to and from school each day. (File Photo)
WHEELING — Students in Ohio County Schools who ride buses should soon be carrying digital identification cards for tracking purposes as they travel to and from school each day.
Ohio County Board of Education members this week passed a motion to enter into agreement with Edulog to provide the Android tablets, RFID cards and software needed to track students as they get on and off the bus if Edulog can provide the equipment by Sept. 15.
The equipment is to be covered by remaining Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds that Ohio County Schools has remaining, provided the tablets can be on site by Sept. 30.
“Substitute drivers — one of the biggest things they talk about … is looking at a sheet of paper in the dark trying to figure out where stops are,” Crumm told board members.
He explained the Edulog system provides an opportunity to have the routes listed for drivers so they know who is getting on and off at what place.
In addition, it gives Ohio County Schools a record of all students who swiped on and off the bus.
Under the system, each child — even the littlest one — would be issued a digital identification card for riding the bus. Each driver would have an Android tablet at the front of the bus, and as long as the card was on the child’s person it would register them as boarding, Crumm explained.
“You wouldn’t have to technically swipe it, but as you got within three feet of the unit it would log you onto the bus, and off the bus (later),” he continued.
The school district checked and found it was permissible to use ESSER funds to pay for the Android tablets for the buses, and would likely cover the first year cost of the subscription to the software and services, according to Crumm and Steve Bieniek, business manager for Ohio County Schools.
The tablets themselves come with a price tag of $55,575 — $975 each for 57 units, according to Crum. This includes the price of 5,000 RFID cards. He noted 2,500 cards will actually be needed, but he acknowledged many will probably be lost by students.
The software has an annual subscription price of $54,204, bringing the total cost that could be covered by ESSER in the first year to $109,779. Bieniek said the school district has ESSER money remaining, but qualifying purchases must be made and the items in hand before the ESSER dollars expire on Sept. 30.
Ohio County Schools already pays Edulog $47,969 annually for the cost of bus tracking software that allows parents to view their child’s bus’s location via an app. When the cost of the new subscription is added, Ohio County Schools would pay Edulog $102,173 annually going forward.
In addition, the school district is planning on embarking on additional studies with Edulog to maximize the efficiency of bus routes. The goal is to see if the school day could start an hour later at Wheeling Park High School in the future.
Crumm was asked if he thought the rider registration system was a good expenditure.
“Yes, it allows more tracking with numbers – especially if we’re going to make changes (to bus routes),” he replied. “Then there’s the ease of substitute drivers coming on and driving routes, and not having to read paper.”
Board member Molly Aderholt, a proponent of starting the day later at WPHS, likes the idea of having more bus rider data.
“That will tell us how many riders are riding the buses each day, and that can help us to optimize and potentially make changes in the future,” she said. “I like that.”
Board president David Croft said he was concerned about spending an extra $54,204 annually with Edulog. He asked Bieniek if the school district could afford it.
Bieniek reiterated he believes the first year of the subscription would be covered by ESSER funds.
“We would get a one-year test drive with ESSER funding that,” Croft said. “As a board and a system, we’ll be better able to evaluate how it is working for families, kids and bus drivers.”
Aderholt said she also was ready to move forward with ESSER covering the cost of the first year.
The board voted to make the purchase with the provision that tablets can be delivered by Sept. 15. Board members Andy Garber, Bernie Albertini and Anne Hercules also voted yes.
Crumm said after the meeting that if a child were to lose their identification card and didn’t have one, the driver will be able to enter them manually into the tablet. Also, there are times when a student may go home with a friend on the bus to spend the evening.
Crumm noted in this situation, the child’s parent would have to send a note with the student to the school. The child would then be issued a temporary bus pass telling the driver the specific address where the child should be let off.
“This tells the driver the student is allowed on the bus, and they would still be tracked on the bus where they are going.”
Students also may live on some days with mom at one address and dad on another day, or have to ride the bus to grandma’s house on occasion. That information can be entered as part of the data on their bus identification card, Crumm explained.
Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
