Thanks to a new mobile app to be available soon, Palisades School District parents will be able to see where their children’s school bus is currently located on its route.
The agreement with Orbit Software for usage of its SafeStop bus tracking mobile application service was approved at the Sept. 19 public school board meeting. Officials said later they expect to launch the app in mid-October, and that they will be announcing it via the weekly Palisades Patch and other methods.
Also at the Sept. 19 meeting, Superintendent Bridget O’Connell announced there will be a special “town hall” meeting on school safety and security at the Palisades Middle School on Durham Road in Kintnersville, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Nov. 13.
Expert panelists will feature Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub, as well as local police, and representatives from medical and mental health institutions, and the county housing and human services department.
In addition, the board approved five new planned courses for the district curriculum, including financial literacy and AP computer science.
The financial literacy course will be a requirement for all students, and will also serve toward completing the Business Career Pathway Program. The course development began with the observation by some board members, during their own work experience, of a lack of understanding by their customers of the most basic financial concepts and practices.
Core skills learning will include “creating budgets, developing long-term financial plans to meet their goals, and making responsible choices about income and expenses.”
Among six standards for students to meet are developing strategies to control and manage credit and debt. That standard is to include costs and benefits of various types of credit; borrowers’ rights and responsibilities related to credit reports; avoiding or correcting debt management problems; and major consumer credit laws.
The new AP Computer Science A course is an elective in the mathematics department. Course standards include teaching students to select, use, and implement commonly used algorithms and data structures; to code fluently using Java; and to recognize the ethical and social implications of computer use.
