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Forest Hills outlines Stopfinder rollout and driver staffing steps as school year opens
Summary
District staff described a rollout of the Transfinder "Stopfinder" app to give parents real‑time bus tracking and outlined steps to address a shortfall of bus drivers, including a paid driver‑in‑training classification.
District administrators told the Forest Hills Local School District Board on Aug. 17 that the district has switched its routing software and is asking families to download a new app that provides real‑time bus location updates, while also moving to expand and pay trainees to address a driver shortage.
At the start of the meeting, a district administrator explained the software change from VersaTrans to Transfinder and said the parent app, called Stopfinder, “will send you a notice that your kid is on the bus right here.” The administrator said some automated emails from the new vendor failed to deliver at first, but the vendor issued a software patch and about 1,500 families downloaded the app in a single day after messages were re‑sent.
The board heard staffing details as part of a human resources update. A staff member in human resources reported that, “we have 54 routes. We have 50 drivers. We have 3 of those 50 who are out on long term medical leaves,” and that another recent injury had created a new leave. To make recruitment and retention easier, the district will pay people during the training period by creating a transportation personnel classification for drivers in training rather than waiting to pay until full licensure.
District staff also outlined fleet and routing realities. The transportation fleet was described as about 63 buses available to cover roughly 53 routes, with spares kept for mechanical downtime. Administrators noted routing typically stabilizes over several weeks as families confirm whether children will ride and as stop locations are consolidated for efficiency.
The board was told the district is watching proposed state legislation that could require busing every student regardless of distance and that such a change could affect current practices that allow payment in lieu of transportation when servicing a single remote student is impractical. No formal board action on that potential state change was taken at the meeting.
District staff asked parents to contact the transportation office if they continue to experience problems with the Stopfinder app or with routes. The board approved routine consent items later in the meeting that included transportation‑related resolutions and delegations of authority to the superintendent or designee to adjust bus stops during the year for efficiency.
