WAUKEE, Iowa — A new bus pass system in the Waukee Community School District will help ensure that students are on the correct bus, and it will also allow parents to track their child. 

According to the district, about 7,500 students ride the school bus. Each of these students is provided with a card that they will scan as they enter and exit the bus every day. 

A digital screen will flag the bus driver if a student is getting on the wrong bus or getting off at the wrong stop. 

“Over the years, we’ve had situations where a child has gotten on the wrong bus, or they’ve gotten off on the wrong stop,” said Waukee Superintendent Dr. Brad Buck. “It doesn’t happen very often, but we’d like to further minimize that.”

The new technology will also allow parents to see where the bus is located. Parents can download an app on their phone, which will show when their child scans on and off the bus and where the bus is located. 

The district did a pilot program on this system last year with Maple Grove Elementary School, Radiant Elementary, and Trailridge Middle School. Buck said this allowed them to see the system in use before implementing it on all 100 district buses. 

“One of the things that we learned was elementary students are far better at managing the passes than middle school kids. So, I’m a former middle school teacher and middle school principal and I kind of chuckle with that. I think that that actually makes some sense in practice,” said Buck.

If a student loses their card, the district will replace it for free the first time, but they’ll have to pay $5 for every further replacement. 

If a student temporarily forgets their card, the bus driver will be able to scan the child manually. Each card has an identification number on the back, so students will need to know their code. 

Buck said the district will look into potentially making the cards electronic in the future, so students with cellphones can scan a digital card instead of a physical one.

The new technology will make riding the bus easier for students, and it also has benefits for bus drivers. Buck said between 50 and 75 students ride on each school bus, which can be difficult to manage for substitute bus drivers. 

Buck said, “Our typical bus drivers, they, of course, get to know the kids and they’ll know who’s getting on and off and that sort of thing. And so this is just another layer of safety and protection if there’s a substitute bus driver.”

Buck said the system was provided through their school bus operator, Durham School Services. A spokesperson for Durham told WHO 13 News that Waukee is its only school district in Central Iowa with this technology. 

However, Waukee isn’t the only school district in all of Central Iowa also uses this system. The Carlisle Community School District implemented a similar technology in 2023.