Henry County’s school buses circle the planet every day. Well, almost.

  The 320 buses in the school district’s fleet travel 23,500 miles each school day, which is almost equal to the circumference of the earth, chief operations officer Josh Malcom informed the Henry County Board of Education during its February 10 meeting. That mileage is accumulated by transporting some 23,000 students to and from school every day along with 347 field trips per month. It takes 4,500 gallons of fuel per day to power those buses, Malcom added.

  In recent years the district has been working to update its bus fleet while also filling driver positions. Malcom noted that 33 air-conditioned, propane-powered buses have been purchased in the past 15 months, and staff in the transportation department have been given stipends as well as raises during the past two years.

  A number of improvements to the transportation system have been under consideration or in the works of late. A list was reviewed at the board meeting, broken down into three categories. In the “no cost” category were the code of conduct review, a peer district study in which officials have researched what other school districts are doing in certain areas, and efforts to update the messaging process regarding communication with parents of bus riders. The “minimal expenditures” section included job fairs and other recruiting initiatives as well as incentive programs for bus drivers.

  Several items fell under the heading of “long-term investments” and are being studied with a view toward using SPLOST funds to finance all or part of them. This area ranges from fleet replacement and a possible second bus barn to technological upgrades across the department that would apply to students’ families as well as employees.

  Of particular interest during the discussion was the idea of a tracking system that would include a phone app which a parent could use to locate his or her child’s bus at any given time. A number of parents took to social media during much of the fall semester to express their displeasure with buses that were consistently late in dropping off students after school.

  School board chair Josh Hinton asked about the notification system, which Malcom said is being explored right now and is similar to what other districts are using. Hinton said he liked the idea of a second bus barn because he sees the traffic on his daily commute from Hampton to McDonough and has wondered what those extra miles must mean for bus drivers and passengers as well as the buses themselves.

  Board member Pam Nutt shared her excitement about the app, and board member Annette Edwards said she was pleased at the financial support the transportation employees have received over the past several years. She asked is there was any bus overcrowding and about delivery times, and Malcom said the department has identified some routes that are problematic with regard to delays, but they are being addressed as quickly as possible.