Haverhill Public Schools has students swiping ID cards to stay safe on school buses

Public schools in Haverhill, Massachusetts are using a new system to try and keep their students safe while riding the school bus.

The department is rolling out new ID cards that kids will use when hopping on and off the bus.

This system is called Zonar Z Pass, it looks like a student ID and its purpose is to identify when and where students are getting on and off the bus, Haverhill Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Marotta said.

"We will know not only where kids get off, what time they get off, but also how many kids were on each route. If routes are running late, we can tell that from the GPS but we can tell if the bus is consistently coming late or early," she said.

This system is secure and it does not track students once they're off the bus, Marotta said: "The information can only be seen by our transportation office, it's not something parents can access at home or wouldn't be available to any community members."

Parents we spoke were supportive of the Z Pass program.

"Knowing that he is getting on and off where he's supposed to definitely gives me peace of mind," Tiffany Bell said.

She noted that the biggest challenge will be remembering the IDs — her kids had already forgotten theirs Tuesday morning.

But if a student does forget their bus pass, it's OK, Marotta said.

"Everybody who is entitled to ride the bus can ride the bus," she said. "This is a safety measure, it's not meant to exclude kids."

There are 8,000 students in the district and almost 60% of them rely on school buses, the superintendent said. She expects everyone to have their new IDs by the end of the week.