1- 30 Day Advanced Bus Scheduling Rule: Trip requests must be in the system and approved by the principal no later than 30 days before the trip. Advanced scheduling in the bus request system will help avoid unnecessary problems in bus scheduling.
EXCEPTIONS: We realize there are legitimate exceptions to every rule. For example, state region and playoff games that can't be planned for; we are aware of this and are working behind the scenes to make sure these needs are met. Nevertheless, regular season games, student club state competitions, and class field trips can all be planned well in advance, months in advance in most cases, and trip requests can be submitted well in advance accordingly. Please make sure you work with your principal and look a few months out in advance and get your requests in early.
Special Required Approvals - Recommend 60 Day Minimum Start: Overnight trips, out-of-state trips, 150+ mile trips usually require Superintendent and/or Board approval. We recommend you start at least 60 days in advance of the trip in scheduling buses and obtaining appropriate approvals for these trips.
2- Approved Route: Please remember the approved route by the principal and dispatcher is the approved route. Bus drivers are not authorized to deviate from the approved trip route and the trip plan.
3- Student Supervision: The bus driver is not the supervisor of the students. The coaches/teachers/advisers are primarily responsible for supervising students on trips. This means the coaches/teachers/advisers must be on the bus with the students at all times until all students are delivered to the approved drop off points.
4- ANOTHER REMINDER -- 30 DAY RULE: I wish I had a better way to say this, but we need to make this point very clear. Failure to plan ahead and procrastinate does not create a responsibility on everyone else's part to cover for you and make your trips be successful. Those who get their trips into the system early, coordinate with your principal early, and make sure all I's are dotted and T's crossed at least 30 days in advance will by far avoid problems. This also means that if your trip is out of state or requires board approval, start early--months ahead. There's no reason why trips can't be put into the system early and get put on the calendar months ahead where possible.
5- Prioritization - Scheduling Buses: The reality is we only have a limited number of buses and drivers. We prioritize trips based upon the following order: 1) trips where contracts and agreements have been signed--i.e. high school athletics schedules and Board or Superintendent approved trips, 2) state required or mandated trips, 3) class/school field trips and other trips.
6- USE OF SUBURBANS: Where possible, teachers/coaches/advisers may be asked to utilize our district suburbans rather than using a bus. The main criteria in this decision will be safety, impact, cost vs. benefits.
We appreciate all that you do and your help and suggestions. Again, we can't emphasize enough that those who start early, schedule their trips early, will definitely avoid many of the pitfalls experienced in previous years. Please work now to get your trips into the system and on the docket, so we can schedule accordingly with our drivers and buses.
Thanks