SOUTH BEND — In an effort to increase transparency with South Bend schools’ parents, the district’s transportation department is launching a new website that tracks the call center’s availability in real time.
The South Bend Community School Corp. has been troubled for several years by transportation problems as late school buses have caused students to be tardy to school and arrive home late. And families have reported that the department’s call center has neglected to answer and help when needed.
South Bend schools Superintendent Todd Cummings has made drastic changes within the department so far this school year — one of which includes replacing the former transportation director.
During a special board work session Monday, he introduced a newly-launched website that he said will help the district continue to combat busing issues.
The website presented is currently for internal purposes only, said SBCSC’s chief information officer, Patrick Stalvey. But, Stalvey said, he is working on a public website that has a similar setup.
The website dashboard pulls live data that shows when and how many agents at the call center are ready to take calls, how many calls were received and answered in a day, as well as the average length of wait and call times. The data will help the transportation department determine when it needs to pull in more agents to assist callers in a timely manner.
On Monday, Stalvey showed that it took 18 seconds on average for a caller to talk to a live person with the transportation department.
Copyright © 2024, South Bend Tribune