LEETONIA, Ohio - There's a new system in place within Leetonia Schools aimed at keeping students safe.

The new technology allows parents to keep track of their kids while on the bus and will be an extra safety net for identifying people in the building.

Leetonia students must wear an identification badge in the school building and on the bus.

The uses of the badge are multi-fold and meant to re-enforce student safety.

The ID will have a radio frequency chip, barcode and photo. Bus riders will scan their badge every time they get on the bus.

Not only will this allow the district to ensure students are on the correct bus, but parents will be able to track exactly where their kids are during the ride home.

"If for some reason, the parents are running late, the parent would be able to see they are not going to be home in time to get their child off the bus, they could call the school," Leetonia Superintendent Dennis Dunham said, "We'd keep that child on the bus and we have an aftercare program we can bring them back to school."

Dunham also said with the school bus driver shortage, they're more likely to double up routes so it makes it easier to be sure students are on the right bus.

The badge will make it easier for staff to notice anyone in the building who should not be.

"That's been an occurrence in districts where a student that wants to blend in like a regular student, or an outsider, wants to blend in like a regular student without the badge, that would wave a red flag to us," Dunham said, "It's uniform and it's consistent and everyone's wearing a badge, so those that don't have a badge, we start to question why don't you?"

Students who are tardy will also scan their badges when they get to school and the badges will be used to buy lunch.

The school bus GPS tracking system will be up and running in the coming weeks and parents will track their kids using a smartphone app.