During the August monthly meeting, the Wright City R-II School Board received an update on the district’s bus transportation system.

Matt Abernathy, assistant superintendent of operations, informed the board about how things have been progressing with Ecco Ride, the carrier of the majority of the 1,739 enrolled students.

The company, which received a 100-percent safety inspection score for its last two inspections, is also now providing bus monitors on each of its 40 buses that transport students to the elementary, middle and high schools.

“That, in my mind, was one of our main objectives,” said Abernathy of the monitors. “That was a specific item that the district wanted from them, and they have now followed through with that. They also received their performance excellence award for the 2024 school year. No student injuries occurred last school year. They have a very good track record. It has followed suit with previous years and not just last year.”

In addition to the safety record and the fully staffed bus monitors, Abernathy added that the company will soon be adding new technology that will benefit students, drivers and administrators alike.

The district now has a shared drive with district administrators that will allow faster access to video files from camera feeds on the buses.

“Whenever a video needs to be shared, it can be dropped into a folder, and administrators have access to it immediately,” Abernathy said. “In previous years, you had to download that onto a disk. There were times when it would be a 30-minute, maybe an hour-long process before you could get into the hands of an administrator. It’s more immediate. Those buses could still be out, and you can access files in real time.”

He said that while file sharing has been made much easier for those district officials who may need it, Ecco Ride is set to speed up the process even further.

The company has plans to go to a Cloud-based file system in December. Abernathy said that the effort to keep bus drivers informed in a quick manner will be a positive aspect of the change.

“They will be able to let them know that this student may no longer be on the bus,” Abernathy said. “Drivers will be able to be aware of those changes. In December, Ecco Ride intends to turn all of their security systems into a Cloud-based system. It will speed up that process even more. (There won’t be) a drop box or a Google Drive for them to place their video files in.”

At the meeting, board member Erin Williams raised questions about the effectiveness of the adopted bus route system.

She noted that some routes take at least one hour to complete. In a report released by the district, 15 routes take one hour in duration from pick-up to drop-off.

“I hate for our kids to be on the bus for an hour,” Williams said. “I understand the reason. I’m hopeful that dwindles as the routes get more defined. High school is one thing, but we’ve got some littles that are on the bus for a good amount of time. I’m concerned that when we get to school, they are not in the best state of mind to learn after an hour ride. If there is anything we can do to reduce the amount of time for younger grades, if we can’t do it for everybody, that would be wonderful.”

It was stated at the meeting that, amongst possible solutions, splitting some of the lengthier routes could be an option to consider.