GIS Program

GIS Program

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a technology implemented by the Fayetteville Public School District as a support tool for school administrators.

FPS is unique in the state for its use of spatial information (represented using GIS) for administrative decision-making. The GIS Program uses this information to help staff and administrators analyze data to improve efficiency in the district. Some of the practical uses of GIS in the district apply to school attendance zoning, growth planning, and bus routing.

School Attendance Zones

Many years ago, individual elementary schools in Fayetteville would mark the residency of their students on a wall map using colored pins. With GIS technology, we can use the existing database of student information to place students on a computer-based map, and we can generate maps illustrating the information we choose to assign to the students. For example, grade, school, bus information, and many other categories of data can be drawn from the student "pins" on the map. Using GIS for attendance zoning or boundary planning, administrators can visualize and quantify the balances or imbalances of each elementary, middle school, or junior high zone. Facilities capacity planning can be matched not only to numbers of students living in a specific area but also to any unique needs of those students we serve.

District Planning

The school district must anticipate and plan for growth so it can continue to serve the community's K-12 educational needs. New developments in one school attendance zone can affect attendance throughout the district. Also, new roads change the dynamics of bus routes. By mapping potential and imminent housing starts, the district can develop an idea of where an increasing student population might be located within the school district. In addition, by using GIS to pinpoint this growth, planning for new school buildings becomes much more precise with regard to the development and maintenance of the neighborhood school philosophy Fayetteville embraces.

Bus Routing

Getting the roughly 3,000 students who ride our buses to one of the 15 schools in the district is an increasingly complex concern for Transportation. Consider that most of our 50 buses run two routes (both morning and afternoon). Student riders are divided into two classes: K-7 and 8-12. By applying GIS to bus routing, the Transportation Department can visualize bus routing by creating a schematic of bus coverage. Check out our Disctrict GIS Maps!