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Westport Couple Launches App To Allow Parents To Track School Bus

WESTPORT, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - Some schools have adopted technology to give parents peace of mind and keep tabs on their kids.

As CBS 2's Rick Sallinger reported, about 25 million students ride school buses every day. But every so often, something goes wrong.

Kids can get left behind or get lost on the wrong bus route.

When students ride the school bus in Denver, they scan on and off.  That logs them into a new GPS system so the schools can track the whereabouts of every child.

"Did my student make it on the bus? Are they at school? Has the bus arrived at the stop yet? And schools can now answer that very accurately," Kristy Armstrong with the Denver Public Schools said.

By the end of the year, parents will be able to access the system from home, Sallinger reported.

The program is already getting rave reviews so much so that calls are coming in from around the country about how to implement it.

Similar systems are already popping up across the nation. Two California school districts are launching GPS programs and Boston's is already up and running.

In districts without GPS, families are taking matters into their own hands.

Betty and Norman Tsang created a free smartphone app for Westport, Conn. called "Where's Our School Bus?"

Parents post updates as the bus moves through the route, so those down the line know exactly when to expect their kids.

"Any tools that we can provide to parents to help them understand where their kids are, provide better child safety, is great for the community," Norman Tsang said.

Kanesha McBath of Denver supports the GPS system after her daughter once got on the wrong bus.

"I panicked, I cried," she said.

The Westport phone app has already been adopted by about 20 other Conn. towns and the creators are hoping to take it nationwide.

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