ROANOKE, Va. – School starts Tuesday, Aug. 20 for Roanoke City Public School kids, but there’s something a little different kids will need to wear.
High schoolers will now need always to wear ID badges.
School leaders said high schoolers need to wear the badges for several reasons, such as getting on and off buses, marking attendance, checking out library books and logging into specific computer programs. The ID badges will also help high schoolers enter school-sponsored events.
There are extra bonuses too like getting discounts at Valley Metro and Roanoke Public Libraries.
The ID badges were presented in 2022 as part of 25 safety enhancement recommendations for the division. Roanoke City piloted them at some schools last summer and fall.
One parent 10 News spoke with agrees that they will help with security.
“I think it’s an amazing tool that they are starting to utilize, especially now that there’s so much going on in our world and our society. I think it is just an additional extra precaution for safety,” said Porshia Jackson.
Pre-K through eighth graders will also have to wear badges this year but only when getting on and off buses.
All kids who ride the bus will scan them when getting on and off as part of a new bus partnership the school division has with Zum.
Getting kids to school on time in the city has always been an issue, so this new partnership will allow parents to make sure their kids get to and from school on time with a real-time app.
Parents will also be able to view driver and vehicle information for each ride. They’ll also be notified if there are any delays.
Zum said there has been a lot of training so far.
“We want to make sure that we are putting safe reliable drivers on the roads. We’re doing first aid training. We’re doing CPR training to make sure we know all the rules and regulations in Virginia for picking up children on the street. We do special needs training. We do student management training. We do bus evacuation training,” said Regional Manager Richard Lindell with Zum.
City leaders also voted to change some bus routes, condensing the number of stops.
There are also new start and dismissal times to make sure that buses reach those stops on time as well.
Middle schools now start at 9:30 a.m. Some elementary schools will start at 7:15 a.m. and high schools start at 8:45 a.m. Roanoke City Public Schools has a full list of start and dismissal times.