With the first day of school one week away, Berkeley County School District’s Transportation Department wants to make sure its families are aware of the following new transportation features that pertain to the district’s bus riders.
My Ride K-12 app
The My Ride K-12 application is a state program that is being used with all state buses; BCSD purchased the app to use on its own buses as well.
With My Ride K-12, BCSD will be able to provide its families with timely and accurate bus route and delay information. Parents will now have the option of reviewing bus information via a secure web portal and/or Apple and Android mobile apps.
The app is available for download and officially launched Aug. 7. After a parent downloads it, they can link their child(ren)’s student identification number; doing so will show their child’s general school information – what school they attend, their grade, home address, etc. Their school bus number, pickup time, and bus stop location should also now appear, as of Monday.
BCSD's transportation department has been using this summer to get acquainted with the app. Up to three people can be linked to an account (mom, dad, grandparent, etc.) and thus have access to it. Only the parent can set this part up.
My Ride can notify parents of situations such as a bus that is running behind, or if a bus is having mechanical difficulties. Parents can also use the app to “follow” their child’s bus as it completes its route.
My Ride will also make a record of completing stops; it will log what time the bus stopped and how long it sat there before it continued its route.
Parents can download the app (or use the web portal) through the Apple Store or Google Play. Parents can also acquire a QR code for download when they visit their child’s school during ongoing Open House / Meet the Teacher events.
Learn more about the app.
Tag Program
Also new this school year is the student transportation tag program, which BCSD is utilizing for the release of bus riders in elementary school.
All Pre-K through fifth grade students who ride the bus need to have a bus tag this year. This tag will attach to the child’s backpack. Families will receive their child’s tag during their school’s Open House / Meet the Teacher event – if they have not received it, then they will get it on the first day of school from their teacher.
The tags come in three different colors and will alert the bus driver to following information regarding a child as he/she gets off the bus:
- Red Tag / “STOP”: The student is in pre-K through second grade and cannot be released unless a parent or guardian is present at the bus stop. If a parent or guardian is not present for students with red tags, students will return to the school. Student release forms are available for parents who choose to allow PK-2nd students off the bus without a parent/guardian present. These forms are available at the child’s school.
- Yellow Tag / “CAUTION”: The student is in pre-kindergarten through second grade and can be released with a sibling who is in third grade or above. If that sibling is not present, the child gets taken back to school. In order to still be released at the bus stop, the child’s parent needs to be present.
- Green Tag / “GO”: Every student with a green tag is cleared to be released off the bus.
Learn more about the Tag Program.