Central Unified students will need to scan student ID cards to ride school buses this year

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Central Unified students now have their student ID cards in lanyards. They'll be required to swipe them every time they board and exit a school bus this year.

"It will give all the school sites information on all of the students on whether they're on buses currently or if they're off buses. All the questions that you get from parents, you know, where's my student? How far away are they from their stop?" said assistant transportation director Crystal Lanfranco.

Lanfranco says elementary school kids won't get their IDs until the first day of school so they won't use their student body cards for the bus until after school on Wednesday.

The Smart ID system will improve route efficiency but can also be helpful during emergencies.

"(We) have active lists for any type of emergency situation. We would have live rosters of our students who are buses at the time of the emergency," Lanfranco said.

And if kids get on the wrong bus, drivers will know.

"If a student tries to get on the bus that doesn't belong, you're going to get the three ding alert," Lanfranco said.

The district is using social media to show parents and kids how simple the process will be.

The child will scan their card on the machine, and the bus driver will see the child's face and name. Once they hear a sing ding, the child will be able to find a seat.

Central Unified paid $127,000 for the service this year. If students forget their ID card, the bus driver can manually load the student's information so they can still take the bus.