Senate approves Britto legislation allowing parents to have access to school bus GPS data

State House — The Senate today approved legislation (2026-S 2392A) introduced by Sen. Robert Britto that would allow parents or guardians to have access to the GPS (global positioning system) data of the bus or other motor vehicle used to transport their students to and from school.

Last session, the General Assembly enacted a law (2025-S 0568A, 2025-H 5421Aaa) requiring video monitoring of traffic violations on all new school buses, including the use of GPS to track the location of the violations. This bill would make that data available electronically to the Department of Education and authorized parents and guardians.

“We all know as parents, that the bus doesn’t always come on time,” said Senator Britto (D-Dist. 18, East Providence, Pawtucket). “This bill would let parents and students know when the bus is late on snowy days or rainy days — or in the winter months when it’s freezing out. Instead of having their kids stand outside in those conditions, they would be able to track the bus and know when it’s going to arrive at the bus stop. It would also give parents peace of mind to see where the bus is on those days when their kids are late coming home from school.”

Included in the legislation is a provision to prevent the dissemination of that data in a manner that would violate any applicable provision of federal, state or local law related to the privacy of information or interfere with a law enforcement investigation.

The measure now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.