Come this January, Columbia Elementary School will take part in a pilot program where GPS units will be installed eight school buses.

Administrator of Transportation Bobby Jackson presented the information at the Nov. 30 Board of Education Meeting.

Jackson said the bus tracking system would allow parents to track the location of school buses and the bus their child is riding.

Jackson said once enrolled in the program, students will use their fingerprints to check in and off school buses.

“Parents will know their child is on the bus and where the bus is, but not anyone else,” he said.

He added that the machine will only use the character of the fingerprint, not the entire impression, and no one else will have access to that machine except for school principal, Nelson Brown, and administrators at Central Office.

A website will be available for parents to view bus locations. There will be no charge for the service in the spring semester, but starting next school year, a cost will be administered.

“The cost has not yet been determined,” Jackson said, “It will be by the end of the school year. Dr. Wu will do a survey with the parents and if anyone wants to sign up for it, they will do that during the summer.”

Participation in the program is completely optional, but parents could still locate the buses.

“They will still be able to use the bus tracking service, but will not be able to know if their child is on the bus or not,” he said.

He said the GPS only works in the Columbia Elementary school zone, so it would not work in Huntsville.

In other Items:

-Bob Jones High School Principal Robby Parker applauded the school band for its accomplishments. Superintendent Dee Fowler presented the band director with a certificate of recognition for his work with the band.

-Of the more than 40,000 high schools in the nation, only 55 of those schools had more National Merit Semi-finalists than Bob Jones, according to Parker. Fifteen semi-finalists from Bob Jones were recognized for their achievement.

The PSAT is given to all high school students. Those who score in the top 99 percentile are considered to become National Merit Scholars.

“You 15 are the bedrock of our academics,” Fowler told the students. “We appreciate your hard work and dedication and look forward to celebrating your successes as you leave Bob Jones.”

-Shane Bagwell and Kevin Gunnison gave an update on the new high school. Gunnison said construction of the new school will begin in the lower gym, which will be the school’s main gymnasium. After that part is complete, he said they will work there way up. He said site work will resume Monday. He said the school is expected to be completed by July 1, 2012.

-Dr. Camille Wright, of the new Curriculum Committee, gave an update.

She said seventh graders’ test scores have risen and she is proud of seventh grade teachers. However, Wright mentioned there were a few improvements that still needed to be made concerning test scores.

“We’ve seen with all our white and non-poverty students there is a flat line data and would like to see growth there,” she said. “We’re also, seeing discrepancies in black and poverty students. We need to work on that.”

School board member Connie Spears, who also serves on the committee, said a better relationship needs to be built with the poverty-level students.

Personnel Actions:

Kimberly Stewart, teacher at Discovery Middle School, was named assistant principal at Horizon Elementary.