Buckeye Valley pauses full rollout of Stopfinder after ETA and tablet problems

Buckeye Valley administrators told the school board they are pausing the district’s full rollout of the Stopfinder/Transfinder bus‑tracking system while the vendor corrects software bugs that are producing inaccurate estimated times of arrival and causing some driver tablets to shut down.

"There's a bug in the system that's hurting our tablet shutting down," Speaker 8 said, explaining the district will ask the vendor for a patch that the vendor estimated would take "3 to 5 weeks" to address. Speaker 8 said the district has already given the system a soft start, is working through database and route cleanup, and will retrain drivers before relaunching the parent‑facing ETA features.

Why it matters: The Stopfinder app provides parents with real‑time boarding and drop‑off notifications and route tracking, which board members said is valuable. But administrators told the board that incorrect ETAs undermine parent confidence, so the district will delay public‑facing ETA functionality until the software and training issues are resolved.

Board response: Board members asked for clarification about impacts to billing and service; Speaker 8 said the district will coordinate with the vendor on payments during the pause and will communicate progress to families. Speaker 4, who described the parent experience, said real‑time on/off notifications are a clear benefit even while ETA accuracy is being fixed.

Next steps: The district will work with the vendor on a patch, retrain drivers, clean route data, and send a public communication once the vendor fixes the issues and district staff confirm the system is reliable.