Lawton Public Schools is making it easier for parents to keep tabs on children when they ride district school buses.
LPS has begun advertising the Stopfinder app, which will allow parents and guardians to see when and where their students board and leave those buses. The app fits into the new Zonar system now in place on all LPS route buses, a system that directs students to scan on and off the buses with their school badges.
The Stopfinder app – available through the App Store and Google Play – allows parents to see where their child’s school bus is in real time, along with sharing information about the time and address a child scanned onto the bus, when the child gets off at school, when he/she boards the bus at the end of the day and when/where the student leaves the bus.
Another function allows parents to set up an alert zone, so Stopfinder will let them know when the child’s bus is getting close to his/her bus stop. And, parents will have the ability to track multiple buses, convenient if they have children who ride different buses. Parents also will be able to share their app with others, such as babysitters caring for children after school.
LPS Transportation Coordinator Kayla Hunt said she likes the fact the app allows parents to track where their child’s bus is, and the district to track what students are on a bus and when they depart.
“That, to me, is the important thing,” she said.
Lawton Public Schools has about 6,300 students who ride district route buses.
LPS’ Transportation Department will be sending out email invitations to parents and guardians advising them of the app, with a link allowing them to easily register. Parents will be invited to sign up for the app as soon as they receive the information, but Hunt said parents also will be able to sign up for it throughout the school year.
Questions may be addressed to the district’s Transportation Department, lawtonps.org, under departments, transportation. Hunt said the Stopfinder website (stopfinder.com) has a question-and-answer link to help parents.