Here Comes the Bus

Student Ridership ID Cards

Here Comes the Bus – a Synovia Cal/Amp GPS system tracks our bus fleet. The GPS system does not track students.

When a student scans their Student Ridership ID card as they enter or exit the bus, there is no ability to further identify a child's location off the school bus. There are no RFID card readers inside our schools. The only location where an RFID reader will be utilized is on the school bus.

1. How does the Ridership cards work?
   1. The Student Ridership ID cards use passive RFID, which means that it does not emit any type of signal unless it comes in close proximity to an RFID reader - about 1 - 2 inches.
   2. The only readers the district uses are located on the buses to log when students get on and off the bus.
   3. The student scan is date/time stamped when it occurs, and the encrypted data is sent over-the-air to the cloud.
   4. Once the student moves away from the on-board RFID scanner, there is no ability for the card to be tracked (there is no GPS tracking built into the card). The bus is tracked using GPS, and the snapshot of where the child is located only happens as the rider gets on and off the school bus.
   5. The Student Ridership cards will not be used for transactions in the library, cafeteria, or any other school applications.

2. What information is stored on the student Ridership ID card?
   6. The only information stored on the student Ridership ID card is a 56-bit card number. No identifiable information such as student ID number, name, address, grade, school, social security number, date of birth, etc. is stored on the Ridership ID card. 

3. What type of information will a parent be able to see?
   7. By downloading the mobile app or logging in to the Here Comes the Bus website, a parent can see where their child’s bus is located and when their child has scanned on and off the bus. A parent cannot see any information on other children.

4. How is this system secure?
   8. Data that is collected on the bus is compressed and stored in an encrypted format. The back-end system is stored in a secure hosted facility.
   9. RFID Cards are encrypted and contain a unique ID number that is associated with a student rider in the backend database.
   10. The data on the backend in the cloud is managed in SOC II Compliant hosting facilities that are based in the United States

5. Why is HCPS utilizing this system?
   11. Parents will have the ability to know approximately when the bus will arrive at the bus stop, both in the morning and afternoon.
   12. A parent will also know that their child is on the right bus in the morning and got off at the right bus stop in the afternoon.
   13. Additionally, if there is traffic along the route, parents can be notified that their child’s bus will be late due to heavy traffic.
   14. This measure has been put in place to increase the safety of students, particularly for younger students who may get off the bus at the wrong stop.

6. What is the company’s stance on student data and privacy?
   15. Synovia/CalAmp does not share or sell any data that relates to student riders, school buses, route data, or any other data used by school districts.

7. Can parents opt out?
   16. Yes. While we encourage all children to wear their Student Ridership card for safety reasons, a child is not required to wear the Ridership card. The district will still enter each bus rider into the system manually for the child's safety, so we know who is on each bus in the event of an incident or if a child gets off at the wrong bus stop.

8. What other school districts utilize Here Comes the Bus technology?

Synovia is utilized in more than 325 school districts, in 36 states across the United States, including Florida (Leon, Marion, Martin, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Sumner, St. Lucie) https://Herecomesthebus.com