Students who need assistance boarding a school bus due to a temporary disability (such as a cast or use of crutches or a wheel chair) may receive special transportation upon recommendation of the school nurse. Parents should notify the school as soon as possible if their child needs such temporary assistance. The principal will help arrange for safe, appropriate transportation to and from school.

There is no safer way to transport a child than in a school bus. Fatal crashes involving occupants are extremely rare events, even though school buses serve daily in every community - a remarkable 8.8 billion student trips annually. Every school day, some 440,000 yellow school buses transport more than 24 million children to and from schools and school-related activities. Said another way to give perspective to the huge magnitude of pupil transportation, the equivalent of the populations of Florida, Massachusetts and Oregon ride on a school bus twice every day - almost always without a serious incident.

SAFETY STATISTICS

Last year, 45 states had not a single child killed as a school bus occupant - an incredible safety record. Between 1990 and 2000, an average of just six children each year died as school bus passengers. These tragedies typically involved unavoidable, severe circumstances.

Trust the school bus for the best safety for your child. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences estimates that every year more than 800 school-aged children are killed as passengers in other motor vehicles, or walking or riding bicycles, during "normal school transportation hours." Most of these deaths could be prevented if children rode in school buses. Parents need to know that driving a child to school is not a safety smart decision - hands down, the school bus is the safest way to and from school. Even worse, allowing a child to drive themselves to school, or riding with other teenagers to school, increases the risk of fatality by 10 percent.

Pedestrian fatalities

Over the past 10 years, an average of 29 children were killed in school bus-related pedestrian accidents - struck while getting on or off a school bus.

School buses are the largest mass transit program in the U.S. School buses provide approximately 8.8 billion student trips per year. In contrast, transit buses provide only about 5.2 billion unlinked passenger trips each year in the U.S. (i.e. getting to a destination by using a single bus instead of multiple connections).

PARENTS: Please talk to your students about being a safe rider.

• Be at the bus stop early. Students should be waiting for the bus at least 5 minutes BEFORE it’s scheduled arrival. If you are not at your stop, the bus will not wait for you.
• Wait for the bus in a safe place – away from the edge of the road.
• Once you board your school bus, sit down in your assigned seat as soon as possible.
• Stay seated at all times, facing forward. Quickly take off your backpack and put it in your lap. Bulky items, such as instruments, must remain on the floor between your legs – not on the seat. FOR SAFETY REASOSN, KEEP AISLES CLEAR AND FREE FROM OBSTRUCTIONS AT ALL TIMES.
• Keep your hands, arms and head INSIDE the bus at ALL times. DO NOT throw objects from the bus windows.
• Be polite and talk quietly. Unnecessary confusion can lead to driver distraction and possible accidents.
• No food, drink or gum on the bus.
• NO animals, glass, aerosol products, dangerous object, flammable or controlled substances, laser pointers, radios, cassette players, or other personal electronic devices on the bus. Sharp objects such as pencils or pens should be carried in your backpack.
• LISTEN to the bus driver and follow directions.
• Cell phones are to remain off and out of sight. Cell phones that are in open view and/or used will be confiscated and given to the school’s principal.
• Vandalism of school buses may result in suspension or revocation of the student’s riding privilege; parents may be held financially responsible for the cost of repairing damage to school buses.
• Leave the bus carefully, using the handrail.
• Take 10 giant steps in front of the bus before crossing in front of it. You should be able to see the driver’s face. REMEMBER, if you can’t see his face, he can’t see yours.
• Wait for the driver’s signal before crossing the road. Your driver will signal you when it is safe to cross. LOOK both ways before crossing the road too.
• Stay away from the bus if you drop of forget something. NEVER go back to pick up something in the road. Get an adult to get it for you.
• Being dropped off or picked up at another location? You will need a note from your parent, which you will give to the main office of your school to obtain a pass before the driver will allow you to get off at another stop. You will need a bus pass to ride another bus. A bus pass is given by your school provided that you have a note from your parent AND the bus is not full.
• Elementary students must have an adult (or older sibling) visible to the driver at the bus stop in the morning and evening. If there is not an adult present, students will be taken back to their respective elementary schools for parent pick up. Buses will not come back to the student’s residence.