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Pasadena ISD spotlights transportation, operations and maintenance; pilots GPS and RFID for buses
Summary
District facilities leaders described the scope and costs of transportation and operations work — including a $7 million transportation budget — and said the district is piloting Synovia/CalAmp GPS and RFID student‑ridership tracking with a parent app pilot called Here Comes the Bus.
Facility and operations leaders highlighted the scale of Pasadena ISD’s transportation, maintenance and operations work at the April 22 board meeting and described technology pilots aimed at improving safety and rider tracking.
Kevin Fornoff, associate superintendent of facilities and construction, introduced a panel that included Robert Stock, director of transportation; Robert Saavedra, director of operations, warehouse, buildings and grounds; and Tom Douglas, director of maintenance. Stock told trustees the transportation department runs roughly 200 routes a day over three to four tiers, services about 63 campuses and approximately 20,000 students daily, and operates a fleet of about 350 buses and roughly 500 “white‑fleet” vehicles. He said the transportation budget is approximately $7,000,000 a year; fuel costs about $2,000,000; extra time/ overtime for trips about $2,300,000; and parts and service about $1.3 million.
Stock described a pilot of a Synovia/CalAmp bus GPS system that provides location, speed and maintenance alerts and that supports an RFID student‑ridership system. He said the district is piloting RFID card readers on buses to log when students tap on and off, which helps verify riders, track time and location, and would generate records useful if an incident or evacuation occurs. He also said the district plans a parent app pilot (Here Comes the Bus) at three schools to provide estimated arrival times and delay messaging to subscribing parents.
Operations and maintenance leaders described the district’s scale: more than 9 million square feet of facilities across about 83 square miles and 1,350 acres; roughly 471 operations employees responsible for custodial and grounds work; and 118 maintenance employees who process an average of about 3,700 work orders a year. Tom Douglas summarized maintenance craft coverage (electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, roofers, carpenters, flooring teams and pest control) and said the department uses preventive‑maintenance and rapid response teams for emergencies.
Board members thanked staff for the operational work, particularly during events and emergency responses. Stock and others said the new tools (GPS/RFID and the parent app) are intended to improve safety, verify ridership and provide real‑time notifications to families.
