September 28, 2005
Satellite Tracker Eyed for Students
Smart" ID cards would reveal who's on the bus.
MANATEE COUNTY -- Thousands of students could get a high-tech accessory added to their school ID cards this year to track their travels on the school bus.
The district wants to try out a satellite system that records the time and location each rider steps on or off a bus.
Administrators could use the information to determine whether a student got off at the right stop. Each bus would be equipped with a GPS unit.
Officials could also track where the bus is, how fast it is moving and if it's on schedule.
The main reason for the move is to keep students safe on the way to school, said Terry Palmer, assistant transportation director. The tracking technology could help put parents' minds at ease.
"Students at two middle and two high schools would begin testing the system later this year if the School Board approves $445,500 for the initiative tonight.
Across the country, school districts are using satellite technology to keep an eye on students and buses. Manatee is planning to work with Everyday Wireless, a company that has GPS in 45 school districts in about 15 states.
To track students, officials are looking at using a sensor system, known as radio frequency identification. The technology requires students to carry an ID card with a sensor that automatically registers with an antenna when they board the bus.
Students would not have to swipe the cards. The system is designed to work even if it's in a backpack or wallet.
"It's very quick. It doesn't require the student to do anything other than to have the card with them," Palmer said.
~Are there many students in Manatee County who leave home in the morning and never make it to the school bus or leave school in the afternoon and never make it home? Are there many children anywhere who've disappeared this way? (Wouldn't that suggest a more focused, more urgent law-enforcement rather than student ID solution?)
What exactly does the school-board want to track? Whether latch-key kids are going somewhere other than directly home? Is the school board trying to discourage kids from socializing or working afterschool?
Is this a high-tech teen-pregnancy prevention plan? Don't provide the kids birth-control for God's sakes but suspend them if they get on the wrong bus?
I can almost understand the value of GPS to track school bus locations and speeds but RF-ing every student is an expensive and unproven form of mass birth control.
This press release doesn't mention how much a GPS system for school buses WITHOUT the student ID tracking might cost, but I'm guessing it's less than half of the $455,000. the school board is asking.
[photo google "sex bus"\ not with press release]