COMPILED BY CASSANDRA JENKINS
HIGHLIGHTS MONTGOMERY ISD Trustees approved the purchase of three new police vehicles for Montgomery ISD’s police department during a Feb. 21 board of trustees meeting. The vehicles are funded by the district’s 2022 bond package, according to a release. Trustee Shawn Denison said in a Feb. 21 statement the additional police vehicles will increase the presence and efficiency of the MISD Police Department and improve response times for officers responding to incidents across the district. CONROE ISD A new assistant superintendent for middle schools was named at the Feb. 21 meeting of Conroe ISD. Jeffrey Stichler, current principal of Caney Creek High School, was named to the position. Conroe ISD board of trustees will meet at 6 p.m. April 18 at 3205 W. Davis St., Conroe. 936-709-7752. www.conroeisd.net Montgomery ISD board of trustees will meet at 6 p.m. April 18 at 20774 Eva St., Montgomery. 936-276-2000. www.misd.org MEETINGS WE COVER
CISD begins rollout of SMART Tag bus monitoring system
TRACKING TRANSPORTATION
CONROE ISD Rollout of the SMART Tag bus monitoring system began in Conroe ISD in January, following the board’s approval in August of the $850,000 expenditure, according to Director of Communications Sarah Blakelock. The SMART Tag system provides all students with ID cards to monitor the status of school buses as they drive their routes. “It’s a system that helps authorize ridership on buses for campuses and for leadership of transportation,” Assistant Superintendent of Opera- tions Chris McCord said in a presenta- tion Feb. 21. “But what it really does is, for the first time in 130 years in CISD, it allows us to know with near real-time accuracy where the buses are. That will allow us to be able to answer questions for parents and for ourselves.” Students will receive a passive, nontracking plastic card to wear with a lanyard. The card is not accessible without the CISD Smart Tag RFID
tablet, which is fitted to each bus. Another feature of the SMART Tag system will allow parents to choose to receive a text notification when a bus is approaching its stop. “For parents, what we hear is that they are excited because it is going to limit the time that a student is exposed outside at the bus stop either in the heat, the rain, the cold or the dark,” McCord said. According to the board presentation, the tag system also gives an audiovisual cue to the bus driver to ensure the child swiping the card is getting off at the correct stop. As of Feb. 23, three feeder zones are currently outfitted with the SMART Tag system with College Park, Caney Creek, Conroe and Washington high schools beginning implementa- tion throughout March. CISD officials said they expect the system to be fully operable across all feeder zones by the 2023-24 school year.
Conroe ISD began rolling out its SMART Tag system in January.
This system:
Provides students with ID cards Monitors bus routes Allows parents to receive a text when bus pickup or drop- off is approaching Allows bus drivers to ensure a child is at the correct stop
to implement the program Program to be fully rolled out by $850,000 2023-24
school year.
SOURCE: CONROE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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CONROE - MONTGOMERY EDITION • MARCH 2023
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