8600 - TRANSPORTATION

Fruitport Community Schools

Administrative Guidelines

8600 - TRANSPORTATION

The following guidelines are established to implement Board policy on transportation.

A.	Administrative Responsibilities

	The Transportation Supervisor is responsible for the planning, operating, and maintenance of all District vehicles. Included within this scope of responsibility are:

	1.	establishment of bus routes;

	2.	management of dispatching operations;

	3.	supervision of vehicle maintenance programs;

	4.	selection, supervision, and training of transportation personnel;

	5.	preparation of transportation budgets and State/Federal reports, in conjunction with the Business Manager.

	S/He shall also cooperate closely with each principal, who is responsible for:

	1.	supervision at bus loading and unloading zones;

	2.	communication to parents and students concerning student behavior, safety, schedules, and the like;

	3.	adjudication of all behavior problems;

	4.	enforcement of traffic regulations on the school site;

	5.	notification of overcrowding and unsafe conditions on a bus and unsafe or ineffective practices.

B.	Bus Conduct

	1.	Parents are to be informed that school bus transportation is a privilege and not a right and that the bus driver is the sole authority on the bus while students are being transported.


2.	Parents are also to be informed that they are responsible for:

	a.	the safety of their child while going to or from the bus stop and while waiting for the school bus;

	b.	their child being at the bus stop at least five (5) minutes prior to scheduled pick-up time;

	c.	damage to school buses, personal property, or public property.

3.	Students are expected to conduct themselves in a proper manner at bus stops. The District will not enter into disputes involving parents and/or students concerning matters that take place prior to the student boarding the school bus, or after the student has disembarked from the bus on his/her way home.

4.	Students will ride only assigned school buses and will board and depart from the bus at assigned bus stops. Students will not be permitted to ride unassigned buses for any reason other than an emergency.

5.	A change in a student's regular assigned bus stop may be granted for a special need, if a note from a parent is submitted to the building principal stating the reason for the request and the duration of the change and the transportation supervisor approves.

6.	A permanent transfer to another route or bus stop for morning pick-up and/or afternoon drop-off will only be made upon the approval of the Transportation Supervisor.

7.	Students shall cross all streets at least ten (10) feet in front of the school bus and after the driver has signaled the student that it is all right to do so.

8.	For the safe operation of the school bus, noise on buses shall be kept at a minimum with students speaking in reasonable conversation voices. Students must be quiet at railroad crossings and other danger zones as designated by the bus driver.

	a.	Students are not allowed to play their own radios or tape recorders.


		b.	Both the use of a bus radio and the station or programs which students listen to must be approved by the Transportation Supervisor.

	9.	The following cargo is forbidden to be transported on a school bus: pets, alcoholic beverages, drugs, ammunition, explosives, firearms, knives, or any other dangerous materials or objects. If there is a question on the transportation of a particular item, the Transportation Supervisor should be consulted.

C.	Special Services

	In compliance with Board policy, the transportation services may be provided for field trips, co-curricular trips, and extra-curricular trips, including athletics.

Transportation may be provided on weekends and holidays to District students who are participating in approved School District programs which are under the supervision of professional staff members.

Revised 10/24/07