HOUSTON, Texas — Around 800 Houston ISD buses hit the road on any given school day. They transport tens of thousands of children.
It’s easy to understand how the start of every school year gets a little bumpy.
"There is a lot of apprehension and tension and nervousness,” said HISD Transportation GM John Wilcots.
Wilcots and his team are working to avoid issues once classes begin on August 26th.
"Because our goal is to make sure that we provide the best service that we can to the parents and to the students of Houston ISD,” said Wilcots.
“Safe Stop” is a school bus tracking app that allows parents or guardians to track their students’ buses in real time using GPS data.
It’s part of a system introduced last year that tracks the arrival and departure of individual students using cards they swipe on board each bus.
"That becomes an excellent tool because that then allows the parents to have an ease of mind to know that the child is on the bus and the bus is travelling," said Wilcots. "And that was one of the concerns that many parents spoke about last year.”
The district also just launched “Let’s Talk.”
It's an app that streamlines communications by giving parents and school staff one place to submit questions and concerns.
It works in conjunction with the existing Customer Care Center where calls are currently fielded by HISD staff.
You must be a parent or guardian with a student’s ID number to sign up for the bus tracking app.
Wilcots said parents and others should give the district about two to three weeks to work out any kinks as a new school year begins.
"There's school traffic and city traffic to consider," said Wilcots. "And the "get to know you" factor between drivers and students."
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