Fannin County School System Director of Transportation Denver Foster told the Fannin County Board of Education that the “Here comes the bus” parent app is now up and running so that parents and guardians will have the ability to know the location of their child’s bus and get alerts when the bus enters a zone close to their residence.
“As of now, the route your child is on is active and available for you to download and start using the app,” Foster said during the school board’s regular meeting Thursday, November 11.
Parents or guardians can download the app for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store depending on their device, then they will need two numbers to start tracking the bus, which are the school code 29408 and their child’s four-digit lunch number.
If there are any issues with the app or questions, parents or guardians can call the transportation office at 706-632-7802.
The school board also unanimously approved to table a proposed policy change until their December meeting to allow for public comment regarding the definition of an employee when it comes to nonresident children of employees who attend schools in the Fannin County School System.
The current policy says that “children of Fannin County School District employees eligible shall be allowed to attend Fannin County Schools.”
The proposed definition change of “employees eligible” would change to “employees who are benefits eligible as long as the employee provides transportation for their children. The definition of ‘employee’ is not extended to contractors or those who are authorized to fill substitute positions.”
The proposed policy change also includes specific guidelines for resident students who become nonresident students but would like to continue attending Fannin County schools.
The guidelines include that it is in the best educational interest of the student to continue attending county schools, the student must maintain excellent attendance with few unexcused absences or tardies, the student must maintain passing grades, and the student must abide by the student Code of Conduct.
The proposed policy changes can be viewed at https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/Index.aspx?S=4066. Click on “Board Policy JBSB: Nonresident Students” under the Pending Documents tab.