SAN ANTONIO – Classes for students in the San Antonio Independent School District started Monday, with vast majority heading to school in-person. That means the transportation department is dealing with more students than they did in the spring.
And, the district has a new tool to help make the transition easier for students and parents. It’s launched the Stopfinder app, which allows parents to track their student’s bus and route.
“We’re in the technology age and, you know, people use apps for just about everything these days,” said Cesar Flores, a transportation director for SAISD. “We’re trying to offer that at your fingertips, to be able to allow for parents to see when their bus is going to arrive and when it’s going to pick up their student.”
SAISD is the first district in Bexar County to launch the app, according to Flores. It also allows parents to send messages to the district, for instance, when a bus is late. Parents will have to contact the district if they want to participate, and then the district will reach out with more information.
“They will have to download an app and it’s for Android or for iPhone. And once they do that, then they can see their student schedule and they can share it with any other family members, use it for both mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, whoever may be helping pick up the kid at their bus stop,” Flores said.
The district has also added 500 new bus stops as it tries to transition to more normal operations.
“We can give more students the ability to get to school and get them back in class, and hopefully, get them back towards a more enriched learning environment for them,” he said.
The stops will be on existing routes, so there shouldn’t be much additional cost to district taxpayers, according to Flores.
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