CARLISLE, Iowa — Parents with children in the Carlisle Community School District will soon be able to track their children on school buses.

At the beginning of this school year, the district implemented a new electronic bus pass system to ensure student safety.

“We’ve never lost a student and we don’t want to lose a student, and that’s where the importance comes in on this,” said Jason Bradshaw, the district’s Transportation Director, “We want to make sure we get student to and from school safely.”

He said that the system is simple to use.

Each student is assigned a bus pass and all 14 buses are equipped with a tablet. Students have to scan their pass when they enter the bus.

If they’re on the right bus, a green flag will appear on the tablet. But, if they’re on the wrong bus, they there will be a red alert. The bus driver and school secretary will then help the student find their correct bus.

Students also have to scan their pass when they exit the bus. If a student tries to exit on the wrong stop, then they will also be flagged.

Bus driver Patsy Taylor said that this new system has made her job a bit easier compared to previous years.

She said, “You really had to pay attention to who was getting on and who was getting off.”

Bradshaw said that the system is particularly helpful at the start of the school year when younger students are learning how to use the bus and bus drivers are meeting new students and learning the route.

Earlier this year, he said a kindergartener tried to get on the wrong bus on accident, but the new system alerted the bus driver and the school was able to redirect the child to the correct bus.

The district said that in December, they will launch an app that will let parents track their child on the school buses.

Parents will be notified when a child gets on the bus and when they get off of the bus. The app will also let parents know when the child is close to their bus stop.