|
Videos
January 26, 2012 By Brian Heaton
Huntsville City Schools in Alabama will soon be tracking which students are riding on school buses and where they’re getting on and off.
Starting in February, students at three schools in the district will be issued identification cards with radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology. As riders board and leave the bus, a scanner will pick up the signal and log them in and out. Combined with GPS, the system will then transmit the location data to a remote server that a Huntsville school official can access if needed.
Called ZPass, Keith Ward, spokesman for Huntsville City Schools said the program — developed by Zonar Systems — is designed to enhance child safety and should provide peace of mind for parents if their children aren’t on the bus they expect them on. The initial pilot project will consist of an elementary school, middle school and high school.
“If you have a student that inadvertently gets on the wrong bus or an elementary student that wants to go home with their best friend and didn’t communicate with their parents, that can cause a lot of stress for people trying to locate that child,” Ward said.
Using ZPass, if a child got on a school bus, a school district official can quickly pull the data and determine which bus and what stop the student got off at. The information can then be relayed to concerned parents, caregivers and — if the situation requires — law enforcement personnel.
Currently, Huntsville City Schools use buses are outfitted with video surveillance. But Ward explained the district wanted to upgrade to something that would be more efficient than manually going through the video to find a child.
Each card reader will cost approximately $400 per bus, and a yearly $75 fee is assessed for each of the units. Ward indicated that if the program is deemed successful, it would be deployed districtwide on all buses next fall.
The tracking system will be handled entirely by Zonar. The data collected will go to a server provided and hosted by the vendor that a Huntsville City Schools representative will be able to access online through an encrypted website.
Ward said that even if someone acquired the username and password for the school district’s account, the Web portal from Zonar isn’t located on the company’s homepage. So while not impossible to find, the login screen would be difficult to locate.
In addition, for those parents who think this system will allow them to remotely log in and check up on their kids — think again. Although Zonar offers an upgraded version of Zpass that would allow parents to receive tracking info from their children via mobile device or on a computer, Huntsville City Schools isn’t pursuing that option.
“It’s only going to be someone at the district level that has the ability to access the information,” Ward said.
So what happens when students forget to bring their identification cards, lose them, or — *gasp* — play games regarding checking in as they get on the bus? Ward said a variety of policies are being developed to address various situations.
School bus drivers will be expected to watch each student use their card as they board and exit. Ward explained that the system makes a loud “beep” when used, so monitoring use should be fairly easy. For those who lose the cards, extras are being made and the district is expecting students and their parents to handle getting a replacement fairly quickly.
“If you come three consecutive days and you haven’t resolved your issue with your card, you would not be allowed to ride the bus,” Ward said.
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.govtech.com/education/Alabama-School-District-to-Track-Student-Bus-Riders.html
Collaborative Justice: Transforming Criminal Justice Services Through Unified Collaboration
Cloud-Based Services Accelerate Public Sector Adoption of Video Collaboration
Kids are going to lose stuff. Kids are going to "play games" with the system. The only reliable tracking would be biometric identification. Considerably more expensive. It is a laudable goal, however.
i think this is great for the enviromet
This didn't work out too well for us in New Mexico: http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/newmexico/2011/07/how-the-state-wasted-1-million.html These guys are crooked. Don't make the same mistake we made. Maybe someone here should do a little background check on the guys running this company. Clearly something isn't right with them
This is a HUGE waste of money and more "big brother" electronic surveillance/intrusion into our lives. Scrap it boys and focus on actually EDUCATING children instead of indoctrinating them into a high-tech police state.
Right On Dave... !!! That's the Whole Enchilada right there.. Lets spend tax dollars to remove a little more of our civil liberty's... If you don't conform and get a tracking device for your kid...they cant ride the bus. The Land of the Free indeed !
Great idea! I hate it! Proof positive that you can do just about anything you want to simply by adding "Think of the Kids" to your pitch. Yes, Child Safety is important. No, this isn't going to work. The article says it all..."If you come three consecutive days and you haven’t resolved your issue with your card, you would not be allowed to ride the bus." No pass card, no school for you! I understand the 'penalty' to encourage kids to not loose the card, but did no one consider the flip-side of that? I'm gonna steal that kids card so he can't ride the bus.
This is absolutely insane. Of all the things money needs to be spent on that would improve education, Huntsville let some salesman from Zonar talk them into throwing it away on some techy toys. It sounds like Zonar is the only one thinking here.
Looking at it from a school perspective, losing kids that get on the wrong bus happens regularly and those minutes where the parent doesnt know where their child is is probably worth the cost. Moving the $400 per bus and $75 per year to Educating our kids will do nothing since the problem is less money than cultural.
Maybe if a parent was a parent and got on the kid for scaring them to death, The kid would learn how to be responsable. You can't constantly expect technology to replace good parenting skills. We had that problem once in our township and it was a good exercise for the police to challenge their skills in how to handle a possible abduction. It took them less than an hour to find the kid through good old brain power. This is just a total waste fo money.
Step has is correct. Responsible parents teaching children to be responsible is the key. There are exceptions for children with mental/emotional instabilities, but that should really be rare if properly diagnosed and not just poor parenting skills being misdiagnosed as a problem with the child's mental/emotional development. [Poor parenting skills can CAUSE poor mental/emotional development!] I freely admit I didn't do the best possible job with my children which is why they have some of the quirks they have today. But all-in-all, they are productive, law-abiding citizens. Meanwhile, the only real answer to tracking children is biometrics. No one can steal your biometrics without violence. If that occurs, hopefully the violent offender will be removed from the school system, or from freely traveling the area (perhaps jail?).
The bus drivers should also be trained to greet the students in a faux-German accent, saying "Papers please" in asking for their ID cards.
Enviroment is spelled wrong. Study with your children at home. Teach them how to save the enviroment with planting a garden.Check on your children at school. We dont need any GOVERMENT tracking us in our homes. PRIVACY!!!