‘That’s a great thing’ | Twiggs County School District using new app to track kids’ bus routes

TWIGGS COUNTY, Ga. — Calling all Twiggs County parents and students!

Some parents in the Twiggs County School District were concerned about the school bus schedule and pick-up times.

Now, they have an app for that called My Ride K-12 to monitor their child’s trip on and off the school bus.

The wheels on the bus go round and round for the safety of Twiggs County students, and the My Ride app is designed to give parents and bus drivers peace of mind.

Kids can scan their cards on the bus, and their parent and the bus driver gets a notification.

The new app allows parents and students to access their bus stop location, route, and pick-up time.

According to James Austin, the assistant superintendent for the Twiggs County School District, their Board of Education approved the purchase of the My Ride on-board tablets using SPLOST dollars and the combination of safety grants to accomplish this.

Kwame Bloodworth is the Transportation Coordinator for the Twiggs County School District.

“Our school system invested into this information so that parents can know where their child is real-time,” Bloodworth said. “Students were issued the cards or badges, and they scan on the bus and they scan off the bus and the moment they scan on the bus it notifies parents on the app exactly what bus that child is on, the location of the bus, and the driver.”

Bloodworth drives the kids on the bus to and from school himself. He says the app can provide that extra level of security and let them know that they are watching out for their concerns and that they care.

 “It lets them know when they get to the school, when they load back up and when they are headed home,” Bloodworth said. “For most working parents, that’s a great thing.”

Rise’ Jenkins is the principal at Jeffersonville Elementary School.

“Putting your baby on that bus not knowing that they can communicate who their bus driver is, or where they’re supposed to be going is scary,” Jenkins said. “Luckily for us, we have this new app, we have this new enterprise that will allow us to have a safe transaction all the way.”

Jenkins is a mother and also uses the My Ride app for tracking field trips and other events.

She says being Twiggs County is rural, so often the school buses will be delayed here and there due to weather or road blockages. 

Now, they can plan ahead and put their minds at ease.

“The idea that parents no longer have to call directly to the school to know if their kid is being transferred safely to and from school was incredible,” Jenkins said. “It makes me feel like we’re moving in the right direction. It also gives us a direct connection between the transportation department, the school, and the parents.”

Jase Chapman is a 2nd grader at Jeffersonville Elementary. 

“This badge gets me on and off the bus,” Chapman said. “I come up to the bus to get picked up every day and I scan this card. It’s my driver’s license.”

His mother, Shauna Grant, says the My Ride app is easy to use for both her and her kids.

“My kids do ride the bus every morning because that gives me a little time to myself before I have to get to work,” Grant said. “Also, knowing that they’re being transported home safely it gives me a lot of peace of mind. It keeps track of the children getting on and off the bus. There’s been times where children ride different buses to different addresses so it helps keep track of that and you can always know where your kids are going and overall you feel safer as a parent.”

Grant’s kids both have their bus cards to scan once they get on the bus.

She says once she gets the notification, she can breathe easier.

“This app is great,” Grant said. “When other things might fail, we can still have that communication and know that they’re safe, they’re taken care of, where they’re at, and what’s going on in their life at all times.”

Other districts such as Monroe County also use the My Ride K-12 app.

For those in Macon, they have a Safe4Bibb app.