Hardee County School District schedules staged rollout for Where's the Bus routing and tracking system

The Hardee County School Board on Oct. 23 approved a five-year agreement to install the Where's the Bus student routing and tracking system, with administrators describing a staged rollout aimed at improving safety, routing accuracy and reporting.

The contract passed by unanimous voice vote. Administrative presenters said the district would begin equipment installation as soon as staff completes contracting steps, with a tentative install date of Nov. 4. The district plans to begin testing first at the high school (where students already use ID numbers), then at the junior high, and finally across elementary schools. The administration said it hopes to have the system producing reliable routing and reporting information by February 2026.

Why it matters: District officials said Where's the Bus will add an additional safety layer for drivers and allow transportation staff to generate more accurate reports for full-time-equivalent (FTE) student counts and Medicaid-related reporting. Administrators also cited benefits for family communication and reducing seat-change confusion for drivers.

Details and discussion

During board discussion, a staff presenter explained the district already uses TransFinder for routing and is working to integrate the two systems. "We had the opportunity to meet our representative today... pending Where's the Bus, we'll get all of the technology pieces installed," the staff presenter said. The district described a dual-track plan: finish installation, then connect systems and begin staged testing.

Board members asked about earlier pilot trials and GPS reliability. A staff presenter said the pilot had a small initial glitch that was fixed quickly and that ongoing use has been reliable: "We really haven't... we immediately kinda worked through it. It was fixed," the presenter said.

Implementation timeline and next steps

- Contract effective date listed as Nov. 1, 2025; administration gave a tentative installation date of Nov. 4, 2025. - Staged testing sequence: high school first, then junior high, then elementary schools. - Goal: routine operational reporting and parent-facing functionality by February 2026. - Assigned department: Transportation. Follow-up tasks include hardware/software installation and staged testing with status updates to the board.

Attribution and speakers

Quotes in this report come from district staff who presented the item and from members of the Hardee County School Board. The administration acknowledged some technical terms and system-integration details would be handled by vendor technical staff during the installation phase.

Ending: The board approved the agreement and directed administration to proceed with installation and periodic updates to the board during rollout.