Board members spent a significant portion of the meeting evaluating a proposed bus-planner and routing software that staff said would consolidate existing routing, scheduling and parent-communication services into a single platform. The total contract was discussed as approximately $469,000 over three years, with staff describing annual installments and anticipated savings.

Transportation and procurement staff told the board the new system would combine services currently provided by multiple vendors and would "annually save us about $20,000" compared with continuing present arrangements, while offering more accurate routing and scheduling (staff comments summarized from SEG 951-956). Technology staff explained the vendor already integrates with Infinite Campus and Samsara and had been vetted by the district technology team.

Several board members raised privacy and security concerns. "Is there any private student information stored on the cloud with the system?" one member asked; staff responded that the product must work with the student information system, is compatible, and the district has an agreement intended to meet its security measures (SEG 977-991). Members also asked which other North Carolina districts use the system; staff listed Gaston, Guilford, Harnett, Nash and Asheville City Schools as users.

Motions or final approvals were not recorded in the excerpt; board members asked for additional clarifications about PII handling, length of contract, and whether the proposal was structured as a subscription or multi-year purchase. Staff indicated the item will be returned with clearer contract terms and additional vendor documentation for the board to review.