TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple Independent School District Transportation Department is rolling out another digital tool to help increase safety and communication for bus riders across the district. The district is opening the parent portal of the SMART tag™ transportation system this week.
The SMART tag™ parent portal is a secure web application that allows parents to monitor their students while they are on the bus. The parent portal will allow parents to see what time their child’s bus is expected to arrive in the morning and the afternoon. The portal also offers SMART alerts and a SMART locate feature that allows parents to see a live map of the student’s bus once students have scanned onto the bus using their SMART tag™. Parents will also be able to view ridership history for their student(s), including dates, times and locations for each time they got on or off the bus. Information and instructions on signing up for the Temple ISD parent portal were emailed to families on Tuesday (January 31).
“The Parent Portal allows our families an added measure of safety and security in allowing them access to their student(s) bus riding activity,” said Amy Scopac, director of transportation for Temple ISD. “Once the parent registers for the portal, they can sign up for SMART alerts, which will let them know when the bus will arrive at their child’s stop both mornings and afternoons. In addition, the SMART locate feature, which is optional, allows parents to see a live map of their student’s bus when it is on the way to pick them up and while the student is logged onto the bus. No more guessing when the bus may arrive on those cold or wet mornings. The real time data provided to our families through the portal should ensure their students never miss the bus again.”
SMART tag™ is an innovative system that utilizes secure cloud technology to share real time information for school transportation systems. The district began using the system at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. SMART tag™ provides the district with data on student ridership, pre/post trip inspections, mileage, and much more. SMART tag’s™ patented system allows drivers to view important details about their bus route including the number of stops, their location, and which students are assigned to each stop. Easy to use tablets equipped with an NFC reader ensure students are riding the right bus and are getting off at the right bus stop. Students scan on and off the bus via the tablet and drivers is presented with an alert if a student tries to scan off at a stop that is not his/hers. In addition, SMART tag™ allows the transportation department to monitor all route activity including stops locations, time stamps, what students were picked up and dropped off, GPS points, and bus speed.
“Our school board and administration are committed to enhancing safety for students and improving communication with parents—and the SMART Tag system certainly helps with both of those goals,” said Kent Boyd, assistant superintendent of facilities and operations for Temple schools. “The system ensures authorized ridership and improves the safety and security of students who ride our buses. It provides live monitoring of where and when students load onto and unload off of their respective buses to keep transportation, administrators and parents informed. And even though only began using the system a few months ago, we have already seen instances where it has improved our safety and helped us become more efficient. We are very pleased to open the SMART Tag parent portal”
Temple ISD purchased the system in December of 2021. The SMART tag™ system is currently used by more than 50 school districts in Texas, along with a number of large school districts in other states. Please see the attached flyer for more information.