Board adopts Stopfinder and Zone R GPS tech for buses; officials say integration will be more seamless with Transfinder

The Boyertown Area School District Board of Directors approved the Stopfinder notification module and a Zone R GPS replacement contract for bus and van routing systems, administration said the systems should integrate more seamlessly with the district's routing software, Transfinder.

Administration described Stopfinder as a notification tool that allows parents to track bus locations and receive route information; the district previously used Here Comes the Bus and estimates Stopfinder will be more compatible with Transfinder because it operates from the same routing database. The district reported the annual cost for the Stopfinder module at $17,004.72 and said that funding is included in the transportation budget for 2025—26.

The board also approved a Zone R contract to replace aging GPS devices on buses and vans. Administration said the current GPS equipment had been in service since 2019 and that the Zone R contract, with an annual cost cited at board discussion of $67,386, reflected prudent technology refresh cycles. Board members asked whether grant funding, such as stop-arm grants, could cover some transportation technology costs; administration said the GPS/Zone R items were less likely to be eligible for typical safety grants and thus are being paid from the transportation operating budget.

Board members asked practical questions about tracking when buses are swapped on route days (for example, if a child normally assigned to "bus 5" is actually on another vehicle that day). Administration acknowledged some manual updating will likely be needed in those change cases but said the Transfinder-Stopfinder integration should reduce mismatches experienced with the previous solution.

The board approved both items by recorded roll call; administrators said they expect the systems to reduce user confusion and improve parent communications once the technology is fully implemented.