How Onslow County Schools Improved Transportation Communication with a Non-GPS Parent App

Onslow County Schools wanted to continue to improve communication with parents regarding transportation. They are users of Edulog’s Web Query which allows parents of current and prospective students to see their school of attendance and closest bus stop based on their residence address.

In addition, they wanted to provide parents with even more detailed information about the specific bus stop location to which their student is assigned, as well as the time the bus is planned to be there each morning and afternoon. The Edulog Parent Portal mobile app does just that – puts this information literally in the palms of the hands of parents and caregivers with students riding the district’s school buses.

The district was drawn to the app not only for these capabilities but also for the ability to communicate with parents on a daily basis. They send messages primarily to convey information about bus substitutions and late buses. But, in these days of driver shortages, those messages also contain important information about combined routes and unscheduled second trips.

Note that all of this communication is accomplished without displaying real-time GPS bus locations. The district wanted a solution for communication without publishing bus locations. That is, they did not want parents to be able to see where the bus is going along its route and so chose to install Edulog Parent Portal without GPS.

Onslow County Schools has used Edulog‘s routing system, known as TIMS in North Carolina, very effectively and maintains a thorough, accurate routing plan for their 200-ish buses. Using Edulog Parent Portal they can make TIMS information available to parents through the mobile app. Parents sign up for the app and then can see information only for their student(s). The app displays the specific bus stop location, the planned arrival times, and the bus number assigned to each route.

The transportation department can also use the app to provide information about bus substitutions. They can make changes in the “back end” of the system so that parents will always see the right bus number in the app. Parents receive a push notification in the app when their child is riding a different bus. From that interface, they can also send push notification messages to parents based on the school, route, or bus run to which their student is assigned.

Onslow County‘s use of the app highlights the many benefits of the communication aspects of Edulog Parent Portal in addition apart from serving up GPS bus locations.

Improve Communication and Relay Information to Parents

Want to learn more about the Edulog Parent Portal app? Click the button below or navigate to the Parent Portal page from the Solutions menu.