General
Q: What is Edulog’s Parent Portal? How do I sign up to use it?
A: The Parent Portal mobile app by Education Logistics, Inc. (Edulog) allows school districts to share planned and actual school transportation information with parents and caregivers. The app provides the latest planned time and location of the student’s school bus stop. It can show the position of the school bus and give an alert as the bus nears the bus stop. With Edulog’s Student Ridership module, parents and caregivers receive notifications when their student swipes an ID card on an RFID card reader as they board and disembark the bus.
Download the Edulog Parent Portal from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store by clicking those links. Or, Search for “Edulog Parent Portal” and choose the app with the white bus on the teal background. Once you have the app downloaded, sign up using your email address.
Q: Is there a Spanish version?
A: Yes. Once you have the app installed, the language can be changed from English to Spanish on the SETTINGS tab. Make sure to select SAVE to continue in the language of your choice.
Q: Should I register separately for each of my children?
A: Just register once for your school district. A single registration allows you to access information for all students for whom you have the security information.
Getting Started with the App
Q: How do I register my student in the Parent Portal?
A: This is done from the STUDENT LIST tab by selecting the “+” icon or the ADD STUDENT button. In order to register your student, you must have 5 pieces of information to ensure security.
- Student’s First Name (spelled correctly)
- Student’s Last Name (spelled correctly)
- School to which the student is assigned
- Student’s date of birth (must match what is in Aspen)
- Student ID Number (do not include the “s”), assigned by the school district.
Q: My student’s first or last name is often misspelled or has multiple spellings. Which spelling do I use to access his/her information in the app?
A: You must use the spelling of the first and last name that matches the spelling used by the school district’s student information system.
Q: I am having trouble finding my student’s school to fill in the SCHOOL field. What am I missing?
A: There are two ways to select your student’s school.
- One is to search based on the school name. As you type part of the school name, you will see schools that match that name, in full or in part. For instance, for Booker T. Washington School, you can begin typing “Booker” or “Washington” and a list of matching schools will appear.
- Alternatively, you can click on the small map icon to the right of the school field and then locate the school on the map, selecting the icon displayed at the school location.
Q: My student shows as PENDING or REJECTED. What do I do?
A: Typically, a student registration shows as PENDING or REJECTED if all 5 security fields do not match. You can see the data that you entered by selecting this student in the app and examining the data to check for typographical errors. If you have questions about the spelling of the name or the district ID number, you should contact the student’s school. If it is verified with the school and still not approved, contact Transportation.
Q: How do I delete a student from my app?
A: From the STUDENTS tab, just swipe left for that student. This is also the process you use to delete a PENDING or REJECTED registration.
Using the App
Q: What does the HOME tab tell me?
A: The HOME tab shows the basic trip information for each student that you have added on your app. Typically this will be a morning and afternoon trip. For each trip the app displays the student’s name, whether notifications are activated for the trip, the scheduled pickup and drop-off times and the bus number. Trips are displayed in the order of the next pick-up or drop-off time.
Q: What is the envelope icon on the top right of the Home screen?
A: Your school district transportation department may send messages to parents and others that are using the app. Messages may be sent to specific individuals or those with students assigned to a specific bus route. App users receive these messages as a notification on their phone. Selecting the envelope icon allows you to see previously received messages.
Q: What do the pickup and drop off times mean? What about the distance?
A: On the HOME tab or the Transportation Schedule screen, the locations and times for pickup and drop-off are those planned by the school district. If the district maintains distinct transportation schedules on different days of the week, that planned information appears here as well. On the MY BUS tab, there is a distance which indicates how far, as the crow flies, the bus currently is from the planned bus stop.
Q: There is a date and time displayed by the bus icon. What does that mean?
A: On the MY BUS tab, the last reported time for the school bus is displayed beside the bus icon.
NOTE: App users should understand that if the bus location has not been reported for recently, there could be problems with the GPS signal or other communications issues. In such a case, students should report to their bus stop at the usual time, 5 minutes before the expected time of the bus. This time display is important to help parents correctly interpret the Where’s My Bus information.
Q: Why can’t I see the location of our school bus?
A: The school district has set the notification zone to be centered on the bus stop and school, with a radius of 0.5 miles.
Q: What if the map is inaccurate?
A: Edulog’s parent app uses Google Maps as its base map for display. No map source is perfect, but we have found the data in Google Maps to be sufficiently accurate to support the app. Unfortunately, Edulog has no ability to immediately correct Google’s base map. You may provide information directly to Google Maps via their “send feedback” option at https://www.google.com/maps
Q: My student transfers to another bus. How will the app handle that?
A: The school that you enter to access a student’s data is the school that he or she attends. It may be that they transfer to a second bus before arriving at the school. However, morning alerts are sent as the bus arrives at the “home” school bus stop. That is, you will view the location of the bus that picks up the student at the bus stop of origin, presumably near the home. Similarly, in the afternoon you will see the bus as it approaches the “home” bus stop and receive notifications as the bus approaches that stop.
Q: We just moved (into or within the district). When can I start using the app?
A: The activation time is up to your school district. It may be available the day following the change or within a 2-3 day schedule implemented by the district.
Receiving Notifications
Q: How can I be notified when my student gets on or off the bus?
A: Setting notification zones in the app allows you to receive alerts when the bus enters the zone that you define around your student’s bus stop. The notification zone is centered on the bus stop and school, with a radius of 0.5 miles. Notifications are set and zones are created under the SETTINGS tab. Notifications are based on the bus location. Some districts provide notifications when students “swipe on” or “swipe off” the bus. This information is stored on the “WHERE’S MY CHILD” option on the STUDENT tab.
Q: When will I get notifications as the bus arrives at the bus stop?
A: You can receive notifications for the morning bus stop or the afternoon bus stop or both. Set a notification zone for each. Each can have a different radius. Set it to one that makes the most sense for each bus route. Further, there is a time window for notifications which you also control. The default time is from one hour before until one hour after the scheduled bus stop time. You may want to set a “tighter” window, especially if the same bus is in your area, perhaps serving another school, before or after your bus route.
Q: How reliable are the notifications?
A: The notifications are sent immediately when a GPS ping from your bus occurs within the notification zone. The school bus sends regular GPS pings to the app database in the cloud every 10-20 seconds. As with all technology, disruptions can occur. A lag can be produced if there is a disruption in cellular service or the GPS unit on the bus is disconnected. Make sure to monitor the app for bus movement prior to the expected time of the bus.
About the Information
Q: Can other app users see my student’s Information?
A: NO. Only persons with information in the required security fields are able to access a student’s transportation information in the app.
Q: Where does the information about my bus stop come from?
A: The planned time and location of your student’s bus stop comes from the Edulog route management system used by your school transportation provider.
Q: Is my student’s picture stored on the internet?
A: NO. Pictures that you associate with the app, either from your photo library or taken new with the camera are resident on the mobile device where it is initiated. If you load the app on two different devices, you will need to associate a photo on each device.