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District rolls out RFID student badges for buses after rough first day with new contractor
Summary
District administrators reported initial routing and pickup issues with a new bus contractor during the first day of school but said the situation stabilized; the district is launching RFID badges that will let parents track student boarding and disembarking in real time via a parent app.
The Antigo Unified School District reported early challenges on the first day of school after switching transportation contractors but said operations smoothed quickly and staff worked to re-route students safely. District leaders also said the district will roll out RFID student badges this week to record bus boardings and disembarkings and to notify parents via a mobile app.
Why it matters: Reliable transportation is critical to student safety and to building parent trust. The RFID badge system is intended to provide precise boarding and off-board data that will show parents when and where a student boarded a bus.
What administrators said: Jake Leiderman, director of buildings and grounds and transportation, said some students missed routes and had to be returned to the bus garage and routed home on alternate buses on the first day, but that no student was put in a harmful situation. He said the district has tablets on buses and is integrating student data so that when a student swipes an RFID badge, the event will be recorded on the bus tablet and relayed to the parent-facing app.
Staffing and technology notes: Administrators said syncing student data across multiple vendor systems delayed the badge rollout slightly and required additional configuration before district staff were confident to deploy it. Board members praised staff and a specific employee, Barb Brown, who accompanied students back to a neighborhood church when routes required adjustments.
Next steps: The RFID badges will be implemented on buses this week, with training for staff already completed. The district will monitor ridership counts and app performance and report any significant issues to the board.
