BATTLE GROUND, Wash. — Two school districts in Washington state are trusting First Student to provide safe and reliable transportation for thousands of students and their families. Battle Ground Public Schools and the Hockinson School District will partner with the company to enhance the bus-riding experience beginning in the 2021-2022 school year.
Students in both districts will ride brand-new school buses with industry-leading technology. All 170 buses in the fleet will be equipped with GPS tracking systems, digital cameras and DriverHub onboard driver tablets. The tablets provide advanced views of bus routes and turn-by-turn directions, as well as a real-time traffic check.
“Many of our students and their families rely on the bus to get to and from school each day,” said Battle Ground Public Schools Superintendent Denny Waters. “We appreciate the breadth and depth of experience First Student has in full-service student transportation management. We believe they are the right partner to help meet our objective of providing safe, reliable and efficient transportation.”
Families will benefit from First Student’s full industry-leading technology suite. With the FirstView District Dashboard and Parent App, school administrators can streamline daily decision-making through centralized, real-time fleet reporting. Parents can be alerted about school delays or issues through the secure bus-tracking app.
“We were impressed by First Student’s industry-leading safety record, rigorous driver training programs and adoption of new technologies,” said Hockinson School District Superintendent Steven Marshall. “We are confident First Student has the insights and expertise needed to drive our district forward.”
The districts will have access to two innovative web-based communications tools, FirstACTS and First Feedback. FirstACTS helps manage the process of tracking student conduct on the bus. First Feedback collects, addresses and tracks various comments from parents, school district officials and the community.
First Student also will implement an industry-leading approach to transporting students with disabilities. The FirstServes program contains comprehensive and clinically proven tools, ongoing communication guidelines, and enhanced training for drivers and monitors to provide a better experience for special population students who require extra care.
“First Student has led the school bus industry in applying service-enhancing technologies into our operations,” said First Student Area General Manager Greg Newman. “We look forward to extending the benefits of these technologies to our new school district partners in Battle Ground and Hockinson. We believe their families will appreciate how these innovations will improve the journey to and from school.”
The districts also will utilize First Planning Solutions. The company’s dedicated routing division will develop bus routes to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs.
First Student is the most chosen school transportation provider in North America. The company has partnered with school districts for more than a century to deliver tailored student transportation solutions.
About First Student:
As the leading school transportation solutions provider in North America, First Student strives to provide the best start and finish to every school day. First Student completes five million student journeys each day, moving more passengers than all U.S. airlines combined. With a team of highly-trained drivers and the industry’s strongest safety record, First Student delivers reliable, quality services including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, route optimization and scheduling, maintenance, and charter services with a fleet of about 40,000 buses. For more information, please visit firststudentinc.com.
