SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane Public Schools is focusing on student safety, both on and off the bus, as part of National School Bus Safety Week.
The district unveiled their new state-of-the-art school buses designed with cutting-edge safety and technology features.
These buses include driver tablets with turn-by-turn navigation, onboard cameras, RFID cards for student check-in and check-out and a mobile app for parents to track their child’s ride in real time.
Daniel Comstock, Safety Manager for Zum, highlighted the comprehensive tracking capabilities.
“We still got the same team advantage to everything that we have here,” Comstock said. “If they go to Seattle, we can still use all the same equipment. Most of it’s run through cell phone towers now instead of our repeaters that we used to use, which we’d get lucky to get all of Spokane. Now, we could track a trip all the way to New York.”
He further explained the benefits of the parent app.
“That gives the parents who download the app the parent app, it gives them, up to date,” Comstock said. “Where are their children, you know, so they can know where their children are. Did they get on the bus? Did they not get on the bus? Did they make it home on time or are they running late? Gives them all that kind of information. Gives them a little more peace of mind.”
