CREATING SAFE ROUTES

Randy Harris has been an educator for 30 years, spending the last 20 years as an administrator.

Currently, he is finishing his 10th year as superintendent at Wagoner Public Schools in Wagoner,

Oklahoma. Although he is the superintendent, he is also the “lowest man on the totem pole”

for substitute bus drivers. In 2022, he experienced what many sub bus drivers go through when

tasked with driving a bus load of students after school. “I didn’t know the route and

didn’t know where to go or where to stop, or which students were supposed to get off at each

stop,” Harris recalls.

After returning to the bus barn 20 minutes late, he went directly to his office and began

researching transportation systems that could provide a solution to an evident problem. After

hours of research and phone calls, he concluded that all the programs available were either

expensive ($40,000 +) or would require hiring an additional person to operate the program.

That’s when he reached out to a company he found in Bixby, OK called Five Pack, to inquire

about building an app to solve this problem. The solution would take several months of

collaboration, testing, etc., to get developed.

Fast forward to 2024, and Safe Routes was finally ready for implementation in school districts.

Although originally designed for Oklahoma schools due to an API with Sylogist for student

information, an additional feature was added shortly after to allow for a CSV file upload for

student information. This allows for any school district in Oklahoma, or any other state, the

option of uploading their student information into the Safe Routes app.

In the Fall of 2024, the Safe Routes app was identified as a “Top 10 Idea in Oklahoma” by the

Builders and Backers organization. B and B specializes in helping entrepreneurs develop their

ideas by providing experienced mentors, training, and a $5,000 grant.

Randy, Ayda (daughter), wife Michelle holding granddaughter Ever, and youngest daughter Mia. Not pictured is Ever’s mom Emily, who is our oldest daughter, and our daughter Hannah, who lives in Mexico.