Havre Public Schools brings back bus tracking for parents

Havre Public Schools Transportation Department has made some improvements and has reimplemented technology to increase safety and efficiency for both staff and students.

"The goal is to get the kids to school safely," Havre Public Schools Router Russ Earl said.

Last year because of monetary reasons Havre Public Schools had to cut $80,000 from the budget, which included the GPS system used on the buses, Transportation Department Director of Operations Jim Donovan said. He added that, because of changes in the industry, the cost of the GPS program has greatly reduced and Havre Public Schools will be reimplementing the GPS system to increase efficiency and better serve the community.

He said the idea for the GPS system first came from Earl, an employee at the department for more than 39 years. Earl first looked into the program after hearing about the GPS tracking system used in the trucking industry. 

Earl said the system gives the garage a better idea of where the buses are at all times, including the travel buses which leave town for different school events. He added that it increases safety and efficiency for both the garage and parents. The garage gets an idea of routes and arrival times and parents have insight on where their children are when they are traveling to and from school.

Donovan said the first system the garage used was Fleetmatics, which was primarily used for the trucking industry, but after a few years they changed the program over to Edgelog because it was able to provide more data specific to transportation buses. But after using Edgelog for a year the program was ended because of budget cuts.

He added that the cost of the system was very expensive, with companies such as Fleetmatics using Verizon Communication systems to operate.

But at the end of 2016, Verizon Communication stated the process of purchasing Fleetmatics, which led to the price of the system going down dramatically and allowing Havre Public Schools to be able to afford to use the system this year, he said.

"It's very reasonable now," he said. "... Parents loved it, we did too and as much traveling as we are going to be doing in eastern Montana, because of activities, we just felt that it was needed."

He added that the system has a number of new features which allow the bus garage to operate at better capacity. The program increases the safety for drivers as well, he said, adding that if there are hazardous weather conditions or road conditions they are better able to relay information to the drivers so they can react appropriately. 

Transportation Department Secretary Leila Haigler said she will also be better able to communicate with parents about where the buses are and when the buses arrive at stops. She added that the system does rely on cell service, and with the improvements with cell service across the state it has allowed for better tracking, but the state still has some dead spots. Haigler said most children also have cellphones, which allow them to communicate better with parents about traveling, but the GPS system is a resource for parents to have more security.

Donovan said the information parents can see with the buses is general, but with travel buses or coach buses, parents will be able to see when and where their students will be dropped off.

"It lets me go to bed at night knowing everything's OK," he said.

He added that he can access the program through his cellphone and is able to see if everything is operating smoothly.

"It's a really good advantage," he said.

The garage is also using technology to improve day-to-day operation, utilizing a computer program to improve efficiency in the shop.

Transportation Department Mechanic Andy Bradshaw said he is utilizing a program called Maintenance Pro Web to better organize and better operate his department. 

"It saves me so much time," he said. "It makes it so much more efficient if you know where something is at."

The program puts all of the inventory of the bus garage in a computer database, which allows him to create barcodes and scan items to keep track of and order parts, he said. The program saves time because everything is organized in bins and is recorded in the database and it eliminates human error, such as double ordering a part. He added that the garage has more than $60,000 worth of parts and inventory and the program saves him time looking for parts when needed.

The program has a yearly cost to the department, but by making operations more efficient it pays for itself in reduced labor and time, he said.  

"It's paid for itself over and over and over again," he said.

What to do for the upcoming school year

Haigler said parents need to start updating their information for the bus system immediately and not wait until the last minute. She said that at the beginning of the year, if a parent needs to make a change to their information, it could take up to 48 hours to process the new information because of the large number of changes being processed. It could result in parents and students not knowing where the bus will be picking them up, when it will arrive at school and when it will drop students off at home. She added that every parent needs to update their information because the transportation department makes changes year-to-year.

"If you do not have a car and no way for transportation, you need to contact me at least a week before school starts," she said.

Haigler said the department often rotates buses to make mileage comparable, rotating out-of-town buses with in-town buses, and people cannot go by the bus they had last year. Some will be the same but others will be different, she said. 

She added that the school district also reduced a route last year and this year will be reducing an additional route so some of the routes may have changed.

"If something doesn't look right, just call," she said.

People also need to be aware that different buses often go down the same streets to pick up children in different grades, she said. 

If people have changed their address and updated their information, it downloads into her system so that the next morning the address change is done, she said. She is informed of the change and she will either contact the parent or the parent can contact her to confirm.

If information needs to be updated later in the year, the changes can be done sooner because fewer changes will be being made and the drivers can be informed, she said.

Parents can go to http://www.blueponyk12.com/, click on the transportation and busing tab and click on the left hand side labeled bus registration form, fill the information out, hit done and the information goes to her email automatically.

Parents can also use Parent Portal through Infinite Campus on the district website, which, also allows parents to see students grades, keep track of behavior and communicate with teachers. Parents have to either create a portal login or use their existing account if they already have one. Then they need to go to the transportation tab and click on 2019-20 transportation calendar, which has the details of the bus schedule and pickup location.

She said if something looks incorrect parents need to contact her at 395-8556, ext. 1.

"With the technology that people have now, we hope it's making it easier for them," she said. "... It's huge."

She added that parents also should remember the times listed on the website are only approximate arrival and drop off times.

"All times are approximate," she said.