District transitions transportation operations to Beacon Mobility; parent app and driver training planned

Port Washington — At the Aug. 5 board meeting the district gave an operational update on its new transportation contract with Beacon Mobility (Huntington Coach), saying the vendor has acquired vehicles and trained drivers and that the district is coordinating logistics and safety planning ahead of the school year. Transportation staff said the district converted a former mobile credit-union space near Sousa into an office for drivers, where training will take place and district-owned buses will be parked; the district is installing fencing and security cameras at that site. The vendor has taken a 100 percent acquisition of vehicles and several drivers familiar to the district have signed on with the contractor, the administration said. The nut graf: the updates are intended to reassure families about continuity and safety as the new contractor assumes daily operations; the district also announced a parent-facing app to replace the previous stop-finder application. Director-level staff coordinated a site walkthrough on routes and dismissal flow with Beacon Mobility’s safety officer and representatives; the district’s transportation director scheduled a mandatory annual safety meeting for contract and district drivers on Aug. 28. The district also said Beacon Connect, the vendor’s parent app, will be distributed with bus passes at no additional expense and is intended to allow parents to receive route and bus information more quickly than the prior stop-finder app. Ending: administration said parents will be notified through ParentSquare and email about the app and bus-pass distribution before school starts.