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LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — The director of transportation for the Lafayette Parish School System says the software they are using to track its buses and student ridership should be improved.
Damon Evans told the school board's executive committee Tuesday the district's system has been in use for at least 15 years.
The Advertiser reports (http://bit.ly/1ZMMMo5) school officials are beginning to look at newer options.
On Tuesday, the committee heard from Lance Guy, the senior account manager for Tyler Technologies. The company, based in Plano, Texas, includes a division called Versatrans that focuses almost exclusively on K-12 student transportation.
Guy said the company offers several modules, allowing districts to choose which services they need. The available services include bus routing and planning, an online portal that can be accessed by parents and staff; field trip management, fleet maintenance, discipline reporting, GPS services and parent notifications.
"We will fully customize your maps, with your routes and your streets," Guy said. "If the map isn't right, that's where things start to become inconsistent, at least in my experience."
Evans said such software also assigns an user identification for each student that can allow officials to quickly determine whether a child got on or off a bus if the parent cannot find him or her.
The program could be of particular use for Schools of Choice students, who are picked up and dropped off at satellite locations.
"Right now, we have no idea if someone uses one satellite spot over another," Evans said. "That can cause a lot of issues with overcrowding and undercrowding. If we know they use a stop near home in the morning and a stop near a business in the afternoon, we know exactly where our children are going. Right now, with Schools of Choice, it's a hit-or-miss situation."
The executive committee took no action after hearing Tyler Technologies' proposal.
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