Greene County schools roll out bus‑tracking app, facility renovations and competency‑based learning ahead of Aug. 4 start

Dr. Rhodes, the district’s operations lead, told the Greene County Board of Education the district has focused this summer on transportation, facilities, staffing and classroom readiness in advance of an Aug. 4 school start.

“We know that we could not have school without this division,” Dr. Rhodes said, noting the district serves “about 900 plus bus riders” and has added routes to reduce overcrowding at the elementary level. He described an EduLog Web Query now available so parents can locate bus stops and pickup times by address and said an Edulog parent‑portal app that provides real‑time bus tracking and push notifications should launch next week.

On facilities, Dr. Rhodes highlighted a recently renovated theater at Greene County High School — which he said had not been substantially remodeled since about 1981–82 — as well as a new agricultural education center and HVAC and roof work at the high school. When the superintendent yielded to the facilities lead, John Ellenberg said the new agricultural center includes four classroom spaces and an attached greenhouse.

“We’ve implemented a phase in, construction and cleaning plan to maximize classroom readiness,” Dr. Rhodes said, pointing to pressure washing, floor waxing and window cleaning carried out by district custodial staff.

Human resources and onboarding also drew attention. Dr. Rhodes said the district ran a new‑employee pre‑orientation and benefits fair that included on‑site fingerprinting through an in‑house Eagle Advantage process (reported cost about $42 versus $70 externally). Full orientation for new teachers is scheduled the week before school, with conference‑style preplanning that will include more than 50 sessions.

On instruction, Dr. Wirth described the district’s competency‑based education rollout. “All three schools are on the implementation spectrum for our commitment to competency‑based education,” Dr. Wirth said, noting Greene County High School is at an early phase while Carson Middle School has piloted several phases and will mentor other schools with support from the Marzano team. The district also introduced a “portrait of a graduate” framework tied to monthly competency themes beginning with “Compassionate Connector.”

The technology team reported efforts to expand hands‑on opportunities and digital access. The district revived a technology internship program, has deployed Chromebooks to about 450 students, and is continuing a teacher‑laptop rollout. The presenter said crews removed roughly 60 miles of old cabling and installed 30 miles of new structured wiring while standardizing networking equipment across facilities. The district is consolidating multiple behavior systems into Infinite Campus and plans to move toward cashless payments for parents.

Taken together, officials said, the projects aim to reduce friction for families and staff on day one and to create a consistent instructional and operational platform districtwide. The board recorded no public comment on these items and approved the consent agenda that included related routine items.

The district’s next operational milestone is new‑teacher orientation this week and the public back‑to‑school open houses scheduled for the end of July.