LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The first week of school is officially in the books for Jefferson County Public Schools, and parents are adjusting to more than just new schedules — they are also navigating new technology designed to track their children's school buses.
This year, JCPS rolled out a new mobile app called MyRide K-12. The app is meant to improve the bus experience for parents by providing live tracking, map updates and notifications for pickup and drop-off times.
"Then we also brought in the app, the MyRide K-12 app. And that has also been a plus for us," said JCPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood.
JCPS previously used an app called Edulog for bus tracking. District officials chose to replace it with MyRide K-12 because the new app connects directly to the district's software, which is supposed to ensure higher accuracy.
For some parents, the upgrade has been a success.
"In my opinion, I think Jefferson County's done a really good job with this," said JCPS parent Brandi Tyler-Merrill.
Tyler-Merrill said she receives notifications when her child boards the bus, can see a live map of its location and gets exact arrival times.
Tyler-Merrill noted her only issue occurred on Tuesday when the app failed to update her about a substitute bus. However, other parents in the district report a much more frustrating experience.
Some parents posted to Facebook, calling the app "horrible," reporting that it fails to show where buses are altogether. Another parent noted that while the app functions, her notifications regularly arrive 10 minutes too late.
District officials acknowledged the early technical hurdles.
"Now, there have been a few hiccups there," Yearwood said. "It's a new app. And with the new app comes some growing pains with that, but nothing that we can't fix."
As the district works to resolve these technical issues, JCPS has officially closed its temporary bus helpline. Parents experiencing ongoing issues with MyRide K-12 are advised to contact their child's school directly or call the district's transportation office.
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