NORMAL -- Unit 5 students riding buses may be required to carry photo IDs and each bus may have to carry more complete information on its passengers under a plan to be presented Wednesday to the school board.

The district already has been tightening bus security, including ordering onboard cameras and a system that would locate buses. An incident this summer in which a student coming home from an autism camp at a Normal school was dropped off at the wrong house has focused even more attention on bus safety, however.

"Long before this incident, this (Wednesday's proposal) was part of the plan," said Superintendent Gary Niehaus.

Joe Adelman the district's director of operations, is expected to tell the board about a clipboard each bus will carry. It will have with student addresses, stops, pictures and contact names in addition to seating charts.

New identification cards will be created for all of the district's more than 12,000 students over the course of the school year. All disabled students will have IDs when school starts next week.

The cards also will be used to gain entrance to the buildings and as library cards.

"It will be like a college ID," Niehaus said.

The accompanying security system hardware will be installed in all schools by the end of the school year, Niehaus said.

Jeff Smith, the father of the disabled boy who was dropped off at the wrong stop, had made a list of security improvements he wanted the district to make. His list included a clipboard with photos and addresses of students and a student identification system - all of which are in the district's plan.

At its July 8 meeting the Unit 5 school board approved spending $184,450 on digital camera surveillance equipment for 85 buses.

"For the first time in Unit 5's history all our buses with have cameras," Adelman said.

The district also previously approved using Seattle-based Zonar Systems' bus location technology. Using geographic information system and global positioning system data, the company can locate buses and plan routes.

Adelman also plans to introduce monthly transportation committee meetings at which parents can express concerns.

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Unit 5 meeting

What: Unit 5 school board meeting

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: School district offices at 1809 W. Hovey Ave., Normal

Topics: Public comment on redistricting plan for next fall, a explanation of attendance exceptions and a presentation on planned bus security upgrades