Board reviews transportation changes: single daily transportation address, routing software and new bus cameras

Hawkins County school transportation staff told the Board of Education in February 2025 that the district will begin asking bus riders’ families to designate a single regular transportation address for each student and that the district is implementing routing software and upgraded digital cameras to improve safety and tracking.

District staff said the transportation address would be a separate field from a student’s primary home address and must fall within the school zone that the student attends. The change is intended to reduce day-to-day routing exceptions — staff described repeated ad-hoc requests for different drop-off locations that create unsafe or hard-to-track routing situations. The district said it will still honor occasional parent notes allowing a student to go to a friend or relative who is already an established stop, but repeated multi-address drop-offs create routing and safety complications.

Kevin, a transportation staff member, explained the emergency procedure: if staff cannot verify an alternate contact after an unexpected event, “If we can't get a hold of anybody, we do, ask them to come back to the school,” and the student will remain on the bus until the school can contact a secondary contact. Staff also emphasized that the transportation address can differ from the primary home address and said they will work with families this spring and summer to set routing information for the fall; no changes have been implemented yet.

District staff described the new routing software as a safety improvement that records target pick-up and drop-off times, route assignments and driver rosters. They said the software’s mapping functions are helpful in a rural county with winding roads and nonorthogonal routes. Staff noted that the district was able to defer a planned bus purchase this year and repurpose those funds for upgraded, cloud-capable cameras. Those cameras replace hard-disk units on each bus and allow for faster, remote access to recordings, staff said.

Communications staff said the district will publish clear written information and use Facebook, the transportation website and video explainers created with student broadcasting programs to reach families. Staff invited board members to review routing maps and software demos with transportation personnel before any policy is finalized.