LOUISVILLE, Ky. — From the original first day of school for Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) on Aug. 9 to now, some families are still adjusting to new bus stops and long or delayed routes.
One of the short-term solutions the district has proposed is a bus tracking app, which would allow parents to monitor the location of their child's bus in real-time.
On Monday night, some parents told WHAS11 they found a way to use it before JCPS sent out the directions.
They were able to track their kids' buses and when they would be arriving home from school. Tuesday, more parents said they used it to monitor the ride there.
"I told my daughter 'text me as soon as you pull in the school,' and it was 7:20 and 7:20 on the bus tracker," parent Chrissi Collins said.
Collins monitored her daughter's path on the bus all the way from home, though said the route itself is still a concern.
"I couldn't believe she was on there for an hour, I just couldn't believe it, the bus route was horrendous," she said.
Last week, JCPS announced it would partner with Edulog for the app.
According to an order form provided to WHAS11 through an open records request, the district is spending $192,000 on 'Edulog Parent Portal Lite,' and an additional $50,000 for implementation and project management.
Other school districts, including nearby Greater Clark County Schools, use similar apps to track buses.
But the tech is new to JCPS and new to district parents.
"It took a big stressor off my shoulders," Collins said.
JCPS sent the directions on how to download the app to parents Tuesday afternoon.
Lynn Starks chose to keep her kids home from school Monday because the bus times and the location of their stop didn't work for her family.
Tuesday, her kids were back in class, but she planned to pick them up from school herself.
She doesn't have access to the Edulog app yet but still monitored roughly where buses were Monday night through messages from the schools.
"As of 7:23 I was still receiving messages from my son's school," she said. “I hope it gets better for the kids.”
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