Better Communication and Service for Families and Staff
December 08, 2023 by Shauna Seaver
For a school transportation department to provide high-quality service to students, families, and district staff, clear and timely communication is key. But there’s a lot more involved in keeping a transportation operation running smoothly — and if you asked a transportation director what they wish took up less of their team’s time, they’re likely to mention fielding phone calls from parents and other departments. Using a suite of student transportation tools, including hardware, software, and a parent mobile app, Sherwood School District 88J in Oregon found efficiencies that took their service to the next level.
Software Limitations Created Barriers to Productivity
Sandi Miller, transportation director at the district, described their previous software as cumbersome and restrictive. “It required a per computer licensing. Dispersing the work was really impossible,” she said. With only three software licenses available to the team of 16, the department couldn’t use functionality that had the potential to improve their processes. They were limited to using the software exclusively for school bus routing, leaving many other important processes — such as communicating with parents, planning activity trips, and managing student ridership — to be completed manually.
Tools to Simplify Every Process
When Miller sought out a new software solution for her district’s transportation operations, ease of use and access for more users were top priorities. “I wanted the schools to be able to look up students at the office level to reduce the amount of phone calls to my building, which was ultimately the goal,” Miller said. Sherwood School District found a student transportation solution that simplified their everyday processes and connected their transportation department to the offices and families they serve.
Self-service tools have reduced calls and emails to the department, allowing Miller’s team to focus on other priorities. For example, a mobile app provides parents with real-time route updates and flexible user permissions allow the athletics department to easily request transportation through the system. On-board tablets have also been an invaluable resource for bus drivers, from turn-by-turn directions to at-a-glance information that helps them keep their riders safe. “They get all the medical information for their students on the tablet. It’s just been an excellent source of information for them,” Miller said.
Seamless Communication, Easier Onboarding
Since launching the parent mobile app, nearly 90% of families are using it — and the benefits go beyond keeping parents up to date on when the bus will arrive. The app has also empowered the transportation department to provide clear and timely communication about incidents, such as a bus breakdown. When an incident occurs, Miller said the app “allows us to push a notification out to our parents … It has almost entirely eliminated our parent phone calls when we have an incident or delay of any kind.” In fact, Miller estimated that the time spent communicating an incident has been reduced by 90%.
Training is also faster as a result of the intuitive software and on-board tablets now in use at Sherwood School District. When onboarding a new employee with no routing experience, Miller expected multiple training sessions would be needed before he could route independently — but the initial training took only two hours. “I was shocked at how quickly he was able to pick it up,” Miller said. She described similar ease of use when she tested an on-board tablet to evaluate how it could help a substitute driver on an unfamiliar route. “I was absolutely amazed,” she said. “I could’ve driven that route myself, just cold, just picking up that tablet.”