High-tech Tags May Track School Kids

School districts around the nation are starting to hold themselves more accountable for the students they're paid to teach and protect. As part of the growing trend, officials in the Tucson Unified School District already are testing new technology that helps keep track of elementary students during the school day. Using a program similar to the Global Positioning System already in use in consumer and commercial vehicles, Gateway Communications Inc. has been testing the technology on three TUSD buses since January. The company would give TUSD's 12,000 bus-riders from fifth grade down a plastic watchband, a small black box hooked to a belt loop or a key fob. The devices will let administrators, teachers and parents know when students get on a bus, when they get off, where they are at noon and when they're dropped off.