The app is available to parents of students at Mansfield Elementary School and Mansfield Middle School. Mansfield Public Schools Superintendent Peter Dart said the launch was successful.
"We had about 200 families sign on just on the first day," he said.
The app tracks the location of buses using a GPS unit that is wired to the bus.
Dart said parents requested the app be launched so they could better predict bus arrival and dismissal times. Many parents were concerned following the district bus route delays this fall.
The app is free to use. Parents can ask their child's school to provide them with a code unique to their child, so they can use the app. This code can be shared with other family members so they can use the app as well.
The app enables parents to view the approximate location of a school bus on a map. They can view one or multiple bus locations at the same time.
If parents want, they can activate a function within the app that will give them a notification when their child's school bus arrives or departs from the school or reaches self- selected locations.
The app does have some limitations. There is a minimum of a 30- second delay in the "live" location of a bus on a map. This delay could be multiple minutes or more in locations with weaker cell phone reception.
Another one of the app's limitations is that it synchronizes bus selections overnight, so it does not become fully available until the day after it is installed. This is also the case if additional buses are added to the app in the future.
The app only displays bus location information during normally scheduled bus run times. According to the Zonar MyView FAQ sheet on the Town of Mansfield website, in the event of an unexpected delayed opening or an unexpected early school closing, the app might not be able to display the bus information since it is outside the normal bus run time. Adjustments to the bus run times must be made before the overnight sync.
Dart said that overall he has been impressed by the app. He said the district will probably reach out to families in a few weeks for feedback on the app.
"There are some limitations due to cell coverage in the town," he said. " But I found it very helpful to be able to track when the bus actually starts its run and when it is actually dropping students off to school."
Mansfield parents can learn how to install the app by visiting the Town of Mansfield website (mansfieldct.gov). There they can find a step-by-step video on how to install the app as well as a written handout.
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