Livonia schools set Aug. 13 routing deadline; parent bus-tracking app targeted for January

Transportation Director Mr. Green told the Livonia Public Schools Board Committee of the Whole on Aug. 11 that the district is using Transfinder RouteFinder Plus this summer to create bus routes for the 2025–26 school year and that additional modules are planned for staff and parents.

Green said about 83% of targeted families had applied for transportation services and urged families to complete ParentConnect registrations before the district pauses intake on Aug. 13 to allow final routing uploads. He said the district will continue to accept late applications but cannot guarantee routes for students who register after the deadline and that those late requests may not be scheduled until the week of Sept. 8.

Green described a suite of Transfinder products the district intends to use: ViewFinder for staff monitoring, StopFinder for parent geo-alerts and live tracking, and other modules for bus maintenance. He said the parent tracking app is targeted for a January rollout and that the district will “try to go for that deadline.”

Parents, the district said, will be responsible for checking ParentConnect for updates once routing is finalized. Updated walk-zone maps and accompanying communications were scheduled to be published to the district website and ParentConnect during the same week as the meeting.

No board vote was taken on the Transfinder purchase during the Committee of the Whole meeting; board members discussed timelines, communications and the district’s plan to be “very transparent” with families about potential changes to service eligibility.

Mr. Green urged teachers and staff to use the district work-ticket process and building supervisors to route maintenance requests to a master spreadsheet that tracks whether issues are maintenance-related or construction-related.