Cambridge Schools outline upgrades to bus tracking, vendor oversight after repeated problems for students with disabilities

Cambridge Public Schools officials told the Special Education & Student Support Subcommittee on April 10, 2025, that the district is upgrading bus-tracking technology and stepping up vendor oversight after repeated problems transporting students with disabilities.

District staff described three near-term technology changes and management steps: moving toward purchasing the Athena upgrade from EduLog for route planning and reporting on Eastern Bus routes; implementing NRT’s Beacon Connect software and a Beacon Connect family app (now in a pilot of 34 families) for door-to-door services; and holding monthly operational meetings with NRT and closer, standardized monthly bus checks at schools. Damon Smith, interim chief operations officer for the Cambridge Public Schools, said the Athena system should improve route planning, data reporting and integration with Google Maps; he added the district is “moving towards purchasing” the upgrade.

Why it matters: Transportation for students with disabilities runs year-round and involves a large vendor fleet. Smith told the subcommittee the district runs about 35 Eastern Bus yellow buses and more than 80 NRT vehicles on a typical day — “over a hundred vehicles operating” total — and that inconsistent GPS and communication have been a major source of family complaints.

What staff said: Desiree Phillips, executive director of special education, summarized district work to date. The special education office provided professional development for bus drivers and monitors this year addressing behavior management, effective communication and adaptive equipment. Phillips said the trainings were held with Eastern Bus drivers and with NRT’s regional drivers and that translated handouts were provided for multilingual staff.

Smith and operations staff described efforts to tighten coordination with NRT after a December incident that prompted an after-action review. Smith said the district has convened monthly meetings with NRT, the out-of-district team and Office of Student Services so “we're hearing the same thing and also asking the same questions.” He said the meetings are intended to build consistent messaging and accountability.

Technology pilots: Smith said the district has been using EduLog and is exploring its Athena upgrade for Eastern Bus routes. For NRT door-to-door service, staff reported a Beacon Connect family app roll-out that began with a 34-family pilot; Smith and Maggie Rabidoux, operations manager, said families gave mixed feedback but that the app is an improvement from last fall. Smith said the current Beacon iteration allows radius-based alerts that families can configure, but it does not yet provide stored, exportable, second-by-second arrival times or the full “real-time” dot-on-map functionality some parents requested.

Public comment and committee pushback: John Summers, a public commenter, said the district’s training and safety checks followed a complaint he filed and an order from the State Department of Education requiring trainings and inspections; he disputed staff framing that the initiatives were voluntary. Summers also criticized Beacon Connect as “not real time tracking” and said the system does not provide the exportable ride logs needed to verify contractor performance and enforce contract terms.

Staff responses to verification concerns: Smith and Phillips acknowledged limits. Smith said the district currently “does not have the capacity to collect that information and store it” from the Beacon app in a way identical to ride-share receipts; Tina Fisher, transportation supervisor, said some drop-off times can be identified but that features remain incomplete. Smith said Eastern’s new contract includes access to GPS monitoring for all buses used on routes next year and that the district expects more consistent GPS data under the new agreement.

Accountability and contracts: Staff told the subcommittee that contractual levers for nonperformance exist in current contracts and that the district has not historically always used them. Phillips and Smith said recent leadership is prepared to enforce penalties if problems persist, but they expressed a preference to “use the carrot rather than the stick” while holding vendors accountable through the new monthly review process.

Committee follow-up: Members pressed for concrete timelines and additional staffing. Member Hudson said parents want a reliable way to see where their child’s bus is “[a] dot on a screen” and asked whether the district will reach that capability; Smith said the district has two options: continue pressing NRT to add features or purchase and install independent GPS devices and software — the latter has produced mixed results in the past. Several members recommended a year-end operational report summarizing contract performance, incident counts and tracking data; staff said they do not currently produce a formal year-end transportation report but will consider one if the subcommittee wants it.

Votes at this meeting: The only formal recorded vote in the subcommittee session was to adjourn. Member Roxas moved to adjourn; Member Hudson seconded, and the roll call vote carried with Member Harding voting yes, Member Rojas (Roxas) aye and Member Hudson yes.

What remains unresolved: Staff acknowledged the district is not yet at the “real time” standard some parents and members requested. They said improvements are underway — expanded training, Athena procurement discussions, Beacon software enhancements, monthly vendor meetings and standardized school-level bus checks — but that timelines for full real-time dot-on-map tracking and automated exportable ride logs were not specified.

Next steps noted in the meeting: staff and committee members recommended a follow-up subcommittee meeting focused on GPS/tracking technology and contract performance before the new school year. Public comment and committee questions made clear members expect more concrete milestones for technology upgrades and increased staffing to handle morning/afternoon communications for families.