Addressing the Challenge of Missed Buses and Missing Children

When a school district oversees hundreds or thousands of children per day, it’s always a possibility a child will get lost in the shuffle. This is an extremely serious situation, but most of the time, the child can be located if everyone involved keeps a clear head. BusBoss specializes in helping schools optimize their transportation systems, and that includes ways to manage situations involving children who have gone missing between home and school.

Best Practices for Finding Lost Students 

Most of the time, the lost-student alert comes from a child’s family or guardian. The person taking the call should remain calm and encourage the caller to stay calm as well. Quickly get the caller’s name, relationship, and phone number. Request they remain accessible as the search is initiated and throughout the investigation. Tell the parents/guardians they may need to arrange transportation to the school if the child is located on or returned to school property.

Then:

1. Pull the student’s file. Does the child have any medical conditions or other unusual situations that might have caused the issue?
2. Check the front desk sign-out sheet. Did anyone pick up the student early, or in the case of older students, did they sign themselves out?
3. Contact the bus driver. Does the driver remember the student getting on or off the bus? If the child never boarded the bus, that narrows down the options.
4. Look up the student’s bus assignment. Has the bus route changed recently for the bus or the child? The student may have gotten on the wrong bus out of habit. If that’s a possibility, check with that and other bus drivers.
5. Contact the student’s homeroom teacher. Ask for any insights including the child’s attitude that day. 
6. If possible, check with the student’s friends. Perhaps a meetup was arranged, and adults weren’t notified.
7. Have the student’s empty bus thoroughly checked. It’s not uncommon for a child to fall asleep in or even underneath a seat.
8. If you’ve completed these steps and there are no leads, it’s time to alert the authorities and start actively searching the neighborhood. Everyone involved in the initial search should stay in contact with each other.
   
   

Technology Upgrades Can Help Prevent Lost Children

Three basic technological upgrades can do a lot to minimize the chances of children getting lost while in the bus system:

1. GPS trackers should be on every bus. You should quickly know where school buses are now and how to review where they have been.
2. RFID chips in students’ ID cards and RFID scanners on the bus allow you to automatically log every time a student gets on or off the bus.
3. Video cameras on the bus allow you to visually ID student riders and review comings and goings.

When it comes to kids, never compromise safety. BusBoss is here to help! If you’re concerned about or would like to know more about real-time student location management, contact us for assistance.

Have you or your school ever suffered the anxiety of losing a child? Please share your experience and lessons learned.