There's good news for districts that are looking for ways to fund a school bus Wi-Fi upgrade program. Due to overwhelming popularity, the FCC has announced a second round of funding grants to help pay for onboard Internet services!

Earlier this year, the FCC made several billion available in grants for Wi-Fi upgrades, as well as other Internet-related hardware, as part of the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF). Demand was huge, and many schools weren't able to get the money they needed. Others missed the filing deadline or had other bureaucratic issues, brought about by the ongoing disruption of COVID-19 and its variants.

It's hard to even list all the ways that the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is affecting communities across America. Many of these problems center on schools and school districts. On one hand, the rational response to a disease outbreak is to limit in-person school sessions, reducing disease exposure. On the other hand, many parents rely on schooling for the services it provides, including reduced-price lunches, and providing care for students while the parents are at work.

New innovations in school bus technology are improving student management and helping to create new learning opportunities - innovations like putting WiFi access points onto school buses. These access points run off of cellular connections, and can be tightly managed to regulate what students are allowed to access, making them a solid bus upgrade for numerous reasons.

When it comes to school bus safety, there's a tendency to focus on features that provide physical safety - and understandably enough. However, security is also a major element in bus safety, and should not be overlooked. Fortunately, companies involved in school bus technology know this, and have been putting new solutions on the market that help improve awareness and oversight of a bus fleet.

The right technological investments can help you prevent unwanted guests on your bus, keep track of your buses and riders, and keep your fleet secure when it's not in use. These are some of our favorites.

When a school district is growing, it can be difficult for their transportation system to keep up. Beyond the basic logistical challenge of procuring (or outsourcing) more buses and finding drivers for them, there will also be significant new back office challenges as well. Managing the buses, keeping them maintained, creating routes... these all become increasingly difficult as the size and complexity of the bus system grows.

Fortunately, companies developing school bus technology are well aware of these challenges! There are numerous products available which are capable of reducing the workload within large bus systems, and usually by streamlining operations to find cost savings.

For trend-watchers, these are exciting times for school bus technology. Unlike many other fields where tech trends are pushed by frivolous consumer whims, technology for school buses is inherently practical.

BusBoss stays up-to-date with the technology trends. Check Our Products for the newest student routing and scheduling technologies.

The top priorities for district transportation systems include lower costs, easier administration, and safer rides. These are the areas modern school bus technology tries to target.