ATLANTA, April 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- East Coast Diversified Corporation (OTCBB: ECDC), parent company of StudentConnect, announced today that the Gordon County school system in northern Georgia has signed an agreement for a pilot program of the StudentConnect technology. The school district will agree to a district wide implementation upon a successful pilot program.

The StudentConnect technology provides real-time notification to parents and school transportation officials when students fail to get on the school bus; enters or exits the school bus at the wrong stop. The system will also send notifications regarding any other anomaly that may occur during transit. StudentConnect notify parents within 5 minutes of bus arrival. Initial pilot will be installed on school buses at Tolbert Elementary School and will be conducted between 2-4 weeks.

"StudentConnect will allow us to safely and effectively track the pick-up and drop off of students, this will also afford us a tool to monitor the pick-up and drop off times. With no expense to tax payers or parents," said Geary Cooper, Director School Transportation, GCBE

StudentConnect uses ECDC's proprietary "wireless communication between GPS and UHF RFID interrogators" technology to deliver notifications to parents and school officials. StudentConnect is a free service sponsored by local and corporate advertisers. The system is provided to School districts at zero cost for both hardware and ongoing communication services.

"It's nice to see that StudentConnect pilot program will be tested near where I'm from," Andre Fluellen, NFL defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions, said. "I know people with kids who go to school in Gordon County and are not home when the kids leave or return from school, so I'm glad to see the kids will be a bit safer, and the parents will have peace of mind. This was a good decision by Gordon County Board of Education.  As StudentConnect rolls out to other schools, parents and kids will benefit significantly from this technology," he concluded.

Fluellen has taken on the role of spokesperson for StudentConnect, driven by his long standing interest in youth programs and children safety. Along with NFL running back Ronnie Brown he runs a football camp for 125 kids, ages 8 to 18, at Cartersville High School in Bartow County, which is adjacent to Gordon County. (For more information about the football camp, contact: Nakia Clarke at Nakia@proworthyglobal.com.)

"We are at the beginning of deployment of StudentConnect technology to schools across the country. Transportation administrators and parents can now breathe a little easier because of this technology. It adds a new dimension to child safety while riding on school buses and will bring efficiency to the management of students riding on school buses. StudentConnect has a zero cost to all schools that choose to participate," said Kirk Williams, ECDC's Chief Technology Officer

About East Coast Diversified Corporation (ECDC.QB) - ECDC is a holding corporation with a diversified group of technology companies. Its business portfolio includes companies offering technology for logistics and asset management, media entertainment, transportation safety and social media applications.

About StudentConnect

StudentConnect, a division of ECDC, is an integrated comprehensive student transportation and class attendance management system. We use the world's first wireless communications between GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) and Passive UHF RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) to provide the most advanced school transportation and attendance information to parents and schools in real time. For more information visit: www.studentconnect.us

For more information on ECDC and its group of companies, please visit www.eastcoastdiversified.com.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the Company's entry into new commercial businesses, the risk of obtaining financing, recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, and other risks described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any obligation to provide updates, revisions or amendments to any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in the Company's expectations or future events.

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SOURCE East Coast Diversified Corporation

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