Sequim school leaders are hoping some small technology can help in a big way as they look to find the most efficient ways to transport students.

In early June, students at Sequim’s two elementary schools were issued SMART tag student ID badges and lanyards as the first phase of a program designed to help the school district find the best bus routes to get students to and from school.

Eventually, all Sequim School District students will be issued a SMART tag student ID badge and lanyard with a unique number sequence on the embedded RFID chip card,which they will use in subsequent years

“This year is just a short practice window, so our elementary students have the cards using the scanning mechanism,” Sequim schools superintendent Regan Nickels said.

Any time a student rides the school bus (including field trips and sporting events), students will wave the card past the SMART tag card reader to log on and off the bus.

District staff hope to have full implementation in fall 2024, when bus drivers will be able to manage the system.

In addition to helping determine the best routes for getting bus riders to and from homes, the tags will help ensure students are on the right bus. The tags alert bus drivers if a student is exiting at the wrong stop or attempting to board the wrong bus.

Nickels said in the future the SMART tags could include a parent application that would give them information about which bus their child is on and the time their child is likely to be home.

SMART tags have the ability for parents to enter changes for their students’ route home as well, Nickels said; currently, parents have to call into the school to make a change in their child’s transportation.

Nickels said district officials have had multiple conversations about SMART tag security, to make sure student information is protected.

The badge cannot be read/tracked anywhere else or be read/tracked by any other product, school officials said.

The tags were distributed to Sequim students on June 4. All SMART tag student ID badges and lanyards will be collected at the end of this school year and will be re-distributed in the fall, district officials said.

For more about Sequim’s use of SMART tags, visit tinyurl.com/SEQsmartTags.

Several parents have described significantly longer bus rides for their students after Sequim School Board directors in 2023 agreed to a reconfiguration plan that moved all early grade levels (K-2) to Greywolf Elementary School and students in grades 3-5 to Helen Haller Elementary.

District officials also briefly considered a change to a two-tier bus transporation plan earlier this year, but balked at the change after survey respondents took issue with the plan that would have students in secondary (middle, high school) grade levels start and end their school days about an hour later.