CPSD parents can track buses this year
By Randy Bell
The Clinton Public School District is tapping into technology to allow parents to track their children’s school buses this year. Fleet management provider Zonar offers an app for both Apple and Android devices which enables parents to find the location of a student’s bus using GPS and even receive a “ping” when the bus is approaching their home.
According to a news release from the school district, “In order to utilize the app, parents will enter the CPSD School Access Code, CLI3627. Parents and guardians will then search for their student’s bus route. Once that information is inserted, parents and guardians will need to enter their student’s Student ID number.”
For any questions or concerns, parents or guardians can email the school district at transportation@clintonpublicschools.com.
On its website, Zonar says it was founded in 2001 and has been providing fleet management services to school systems for more than twenty years. In addition to helping protect the students on board the buses and keeping parents informed, the company says its technology also works to maximize the operational efficiency of the school district’s bus fleet.
Another critical factor in protecting students who ride school buses is making sure motorists know it’s against the law to fail to stop for a bus which is loading or unloading students.
Clinton Police Chief Ford Hayman says his department strictly enforces Nathan’s Law. That state legislation which took effect in 2011 is named for a five-year-old Laurel boy who was struck and killed by a motorist who drove around a stopped school bus.
The law requires motorists to come to “a complete stop” at least 10 feet from a school bus when the bus is loading or unloading children, and motorists must not proceed until ALL of the following are completed:
• All children have crossed the street going to or from the bus,
• The flashing red lights on the bus are no longer activated,
• The stop sign on the side of the bus is retracted, and
• The bus is moving again.
The fine for passing a stopped school bus ranges from $350 to $750 for a first offense.
A charge of felony assault is authorized for a motorist who, in illegally passing a school bus, causes an injury or death. The penalty is a prison sentence of up to twenty years.
