North Mason School District #403, WA

Using Transfinder’s Tools to Help Deliver Food and Homework Packets During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Maurine Simons, Director of Transportation at North Mason School District #403 is rolling out Stopfinder Communication to parents in her district, so she can keep them informed of her buses running behind schedule when they’re passing out homework packets at the end of each week.

As is the case with many school districts, Maurine has been working out the kinks in her operation for delivering food to families and now homework packets over the last few weeks. Transfinder has been a useful tool for not only reducing her routes to 8 for dropping off needed supplies but organizing spreadsheets for the schools to identify what each student needs.

Each school is provided spreadsheets, which Maurine has exported from Transfinder, of which students are on which routes. Each school then fills milk crates with the necessary packets for each route, labeled with student’s names. The bus drivers, using their spreadsheets, organize the packets by stop. At each stop they check off if the student was there or make notes if a student has any additional needs. This helps the schools then know who may be behind.

Meals are delivered daily to stops and on Fridays the homework packets are added. This process can take additional time, so Maurine is implementing Stopfinder Communication to let parents know if their stop is running late. This will not only help build a feeling of connectedness with families, but also help ensure students are going to their stops to get what they need, so they don’t fall behind in their education.

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