Last year, the district introduced an app that allows parents to see where their children are dropped off and picked up by the school bus and notifies them when the bus is approaching their stop. Grover said parents are overall very supportive of the safety addition.
"I like to say it's a peace of mind," he said. "We live in a technological world nowadays and so we want to know where people are. We want to be in touch kind of 24/7."
With the EZ A2B app, students are scanned on and off the bus with a pass attached to their backpack or on their phone. The information is not only helpful for parents who want to ensure their children arrive at their stop safely, but also for district employees, who can use the scanning system to track children in the case of an accident or emergency.
"I believe that it makes a safer experience for the students because we then have better knowledge of where each student is at any given time," said Jenni Oatman, a school bus driver for East Grand Forks Schools. "... If there is an accident, we automatically have a list of which students are on the bus, so the school can look that up and notify parents if necessary."
While accidents are worst-case scenarios, Grover said the scanning system also helps parents keep track of students in situations of mistakes or miscommunications. If a student misses or gets off at the wrong stop, parents are notified what stop their child scanned out at so they can meet them at the new location.
Oatman, who has been a driver for East Grand Forks schools for 11 years, said the app makes the driver experience much better. She said if another driver calls out or the district needs a bus to take additional students, the app routes the students into the GPS system so she can keep track of who is on her bus and where they need to go.
The app was introduced last school year and had an initial cost of $11,000 for devices, software and training. A yearly $6,000 ongoing cost will come from the district's general expense fund for Wi-Fi, contracts and upkeep.
Grover said the initial rollout led to some confusion for parents and district staff members, but as people have gotten more comfortable with the app and the district has adapted to fix small problems, he believes the program has been positive for the district and community.
"There's just some learning curves," he said. "But overall, it's definitely been a plus."
© 2025 the Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
