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Parent / Guardian / Student Transportation Handbook

Delivery of Students Receiving Special Needs Services

Transportation will refer to the student's Confidential Emergency Information form when delivering a student receiving modified transportation services if the parent/guardian is not present to receive the student.

1. If, on the transportation form, the parent/guardian has authorized that the student can be left unattended, the local transportation provider may leave the student at the delivery location.
2. If the parent/guardian has not authorized that the student can be left unattended, the local transportation provider will not leave the student unattended.

3. If APS staff is unable to contact the parents/guardians or the emergency contacts, the student may be referred to the appropriate personnel for child protective services.

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Inclement Weather Schedule

The most common change of the school day schedule occurs when severe weather causes street conditions, which would endanger the safety of students going to school. The schedule may be adjusted by two hours.

The decision to institute an adjusted schedule will be made and announced through the news media no later than 6:00 a.m. Following the decision to implement an adjusted schedule, weather conditions occasionally worsen to the point that it is necessary to close the schools. This announcement will be made no later than 9:00 a.m.

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Bus Stops and Routes

1. Notes from parents/guardians or principals/designees authorizing the bus driver to drop off a student at a point other than his/her regular stop will only be permitted in Emergency situations.
2. Students will not be required to walk a greater distance to a bus stop than the walking distance as specified by State Statute (1/2 mile).
3. All mid-day kindergarten routes will use established a.m. and p.m. elementary school bus stops.
4. The Routing Supervisor will address complaints regarding route schedules or school bus stops. The principal will address complaints regarding discipline on board school buses.
5. Drivers will not transport any persons who are not students or approved school personnel assigned to their bus.
6. Drivers will not give permission to anyone other than assigned students and/or approved school, transportation, emergency, or law enforcement personnel to board the bus.
7. In the p.m. the bus driver will not be required to wait more than seven minutes after the dismissal bell has rung. The driver and/or monitor will not be allowed to leave the bus to search for unaccounted students. Once the bus departs, the driver will not stop in the loading zone or be expected to return to the school for students who are late for the bus.
8. The driver has the authority to assign students to seats.
9. In consideration of student safety, live animals, unless specified in a student's IEP or 504 Accommodation Plan, will not be transported. Toys, items in glass containers, or other dangerous objects, as well as large articles, which might block the aisle, the emergency door, or the service doors of a school bus, will not be permitted.

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School Bus Rosters

School bus drivers will maintain a student roster and student seating chart for each school bus route under contract. Student rosters will contain the following information:

1. First and last name of each student on the bus
2. Each student's address and phone number
3. Two emergency contact names and phone number

Information contained on student roster sheets will remain confidential and in the school bus. Student rosters and seating charts will be made available to school officials and law enforcement officers upon request.

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Evacuation Drills

Student emergency evacuation drills or an emergency evacuation demonstration will be conducted twice each school year for each route assigned to a school bus.

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Transportation of Large Articles

In transporting large musical instruments, school projects, or other large articles, the following will apply:

1. The driver will not permit the transportation of any item that will block the aisle or exits of the bus.
2. No item will be placed in the driver's compartment.
3. All items carried by a student will be under his/her control at all times.
4. The size of an item should be such that it can be carried on the student's lap or on the floor of the bus; in either case, it will not extend beyond or above the height of the seat in front of the student. (The length of an instrument case cannot exceed 40 inches.)
5. If space is available onboard the bus, a large musical instrument may be allowed, if only one student is assigned to one bench seat, if the instrument case does not extend beyond the height of the seat backs, and if the instrument case is placed on the floor next to the window on the school bus.
6. Some students may need the assistance of oxygen or mechanical ventilation devices during their bus ride. All equipment used by students who are technologically dependent must be secured so that it does not become detached from the individual dispensing unit nor become a projectile in the event of an impact. Health plans for students who are technologically dependent will be attached to their Special Needs transportation form.

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Parent(s)/Guardian(s) Responsibilities

For safe riding on a school bus by their child, parents/guardians' responsibilities include the following.

1. Are expected to encourage their children to learn and obey the school bus safety rules and to exhibit appropriate student conduct as described in district documents pertaining to student transportation
2. Are responsible for instructing their children about their assigned bus stop and advising them to leave the bus only at their assigned stop
3. Are responsible to see that their children are at the assigned stop five minutes before the scheduled arrival of the bus
4. May be held responsible for any observed acts of vandalism of private property by their children while on the bus or at the bus stop location and restitution may be pursued by law enforcement agencies
5. Will not be transported to or from school on the school bus
6. Will arrange for their students to have physician-prescribed medication that is to be transported to school for use during the school day appropriately labeled and in a backpack or parcel to be kept in the student's possession during the route. No medication will be administered during the route by either the school bus driver or the attendant. Only health care providers accompanying students as specified in a 504 Accommodation Plan or the IEP will be authorized to administer physician-prescribed medication during transport.

The parent/guardian of students who have been approved for Special Needs Transportation services will:

1. Cooperate in the completion of the Confidential Emergency Information (CEI) Transportation form by providing emergency phone numbers and addresses of responsible persons to be contacted in case of an emergency such as illness, injury, or abbreviated school day due to inclement weather
2. Allow at least three to five working days to implement any changes in pick-up and/or drop-off locations. The driver is not allowed to change or modify a bus route
3. Have the student ready to board the bus at the assigned pick-up time
4. Cooperate by ensuring students have clean diapers if they are not toilet trained and that colostomy bags are not filled to capacity before boarding the bus. Transportation will not be provided for students who are soiled or have full bags before boarding the bus.
5. Transport their student when exceptional situations arise which call for a deviation from established bus service (e.g., the student needs to be dropped off at a different address temporarily)
6. Transport their student in the event of bus suspension
7. Make arrangements to have a responsible person meet the bus when it is indicated on the CEI modified transportation form that a student cannot be left unattended,
8. Notify the Transportation Department in advance (one full school day, if possible) or day of transportation in the event the student does not plan to attend school on a specific day.

Special Needs Transportation services should begin three to five school days after the Transportation department has received a completed Request for Transportation form from the Special Education department. All affected parties will be informed if route reconfiguration will exceed five days.

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Student Responsibilities

For safe riding on school buses the following are students' responsibilities.

1. Students who are required to walk a distance to meet the bus should walk on the side of the road to their left facing traffic, except on divided or multi-lane roadways.
2. Students must be at their regular bus stop five minutes prior to scheduled stop time. The bus driver will not wait for students who are not making an effort to reach the bus. Students receiving Special Needs Transportation services will be ready at the assigned pick-up time. In the p.m. the buses will depart from school seven minutes after the bell has rung.
3. Students will exhibit safe and appropriate behavior when waiting for and boarding the bus.
4. Students must follow the driver's and/or attendant's instructions promptly. When a principal/designee is on the bus, he/she is authorized to enforce student discipline, also.
5. Students will not get on or off the bus while it is in motion. Students must remain seated and keep the aisle and exits clear.
6. Students will occupy the seat assigned to them by the driver. If the bus is equipped with seat belts, students must wear them.
7. Students will not be permitted in the driver's compartment while the bus is in motion. Students will not tamper with any equipment on the bus.
8. Students are not to engage in unnecessary conversation with the driver while the bus is in motion.
9. Students will exhibit respect, act responsibly, be trustworthy, practice fairness, have a caring attitude, and display good citizenship while on the school bus.
10. Students will not use profane language or make obscene gestures while on the bus.
11. Students will cooperate with the bus driver in keeping the bus clean.
12. Rough or boisterous conduct will not be permitted in the bus. Students will be absolutely quiet when the bus is approaching a railroad crossing and will remain quiet until the bus is safely across the tracks.
13. Students will not eat any food or drink any beverage while being transported to or from school.
14. Students should remember that misconduct and/or carelessness endangers not only their won safety, but also the safety of the other students on the bus.
15. Students will not extend their hands, arms, heads, or any objects out the bus windows.
16. Weapons, explosives, breakable glass, or other dangerous objects are not permitted on the bus. Animals, except those animals authorized by an IEP or a 504 Accommodation Plan, are not permitted on the bus.
17. No item that will block the aisle or is unsecured will be carried on the bus.
18. Students will not open or close the bus windows without the permission of the bus driver.
19. Students will not throw any item inside or outside the bus while boarding, riding or leaving the bus.
20. The use, possession or distribution of tobacco, drugs, alcohol or any other controlled substance will not be permitted while on the bus.
21. Students will not ride on the outside of the school bus at any time or attach any item to the bus.
22. Students and parents/guardians will be held responsible for malicious destruction to the bus.
23. Passengers will report damage to the bus from any cause to the driver, and the driver will, in turn, report it to the proper school official.

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Activity Trips

Only students, sponsors, and chaperones will be transported on school buses used for activity trips.

If students are transported from an PCSD site in privately owned vehicles for school activities, the driver/owner of the private vehicle will be responsible/liable for the safety of students being transported.

In the event students are to be transported in private vehicles, the following criteria will be used:

1. The PCSD sponsor of the event must secure a signed release from parents/guardians authorizing the student to participate in the activity and to ride in a privately owned vehicle.
2. Documentation must be presented to the sponsor that the driver/owner has the state minimum requirements for insurance (25/50/25).
3. Proof that the driver has a valid driver's license/van certification must be presented to the sponsor.
4. The driver/owner's insurance is prime* in the event of injury to the students.
5. All transportation of students to school sponsored student activities (e.g., field trips, athletic events, musical concerts) will, be, when practicable, in school-bus-type vehicles. Private vehicles with a rated seating capacity of nine or fewer may be used for activity trips provided the vehicle meets all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards r requirements for its category. However, it is recommended that school buses be used any time the school sponsored activity involves transporting more than nine students or would require using more than one private vehicle to transport students.

*Prime - the insurance policy of the privately owned vehicle will be first when paying for injury cost or settling claims for injury.

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