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School’s Around the Corner: Don’t Forget About Online System To Access School, Bus Route Info For Addresses

By Jesse Wood

July 31, 2013. School starts on Aug. 19, and for families and realtors wanting to know times and routes of school buses in Watauga County for a particular address may peruse the EDULOG WebQuery system to obtain the school name, bus number, bus schedule and the nearest bus stop for a particular address.

The system went online in February during the 2012-13 school year.

Watauga County Schools Transportation Director Jeff Lyons said the system data is current and that updates to addresses and other information occur frequently.

“We are updating as we go,” Lyons said. 

* Avery County Schools doesn’t utilize the EDULOG WebQuery system.

Here is a WCS release from February for more details on the EDULOG WebQuery system:

Families and realtors who want to know school assignment and school bus information for a given address can now find that information online through the Watauga County Schools website. 

The newly implemented EDULOG WebQuery system allows users to simply enter a street address to obtain the school name and the school bus schedule, bus number, and nearest bus stop for that address.  The database for the system includes all roads in Watauga County and will be updated as new roads are built.  The EDULOG WebQuery information is available from a link on the Parent Links page of the WCS website.

“The WebQuery system provides a very helpful and convenient resource for parents, realtors, and others who want to know which school serves a given address,” said former Superintendent Dr. David Kafitz.  “It makes reliable school assignment and school bus information accessible anytime, including nights and weekends when families are most likely to use it, without requiring added personnel or additional hours for existing staff.”

Transportation Director Jeff Lyons noted that WebQuery is employed by a number of other school systems in NC and around the country and that it uses an existing database of addresses and school assignment information.  “It pulls information from the Transportation Information Management System that we already use to develop school bus routes, so we did not have to create new files or maps to bring the system online.  That made it much faster and cheaper to get up and running compared to starting from scratch to compile all the data the system needs.” 

In an appropriate coincidence of timing, the WebQuery system and its school bus information are being brought online just in time for School Bus Driver Appreciation Week, February 11-15.  The Watauga County Schools system serves about 3,300 families and 4,550 students, and approximately 1,800 of these students ride the bus each day.