EO-P1 - Student Transportation Services

1. The Division shall transport, and/or provide transportation allowance for all students for whom  the Division receives transportation grants provided for in the Regulations of the Public Schools Act. All students whose distance from their home address to their assigned or catchment area  school within the Division is greater than 1.6 kilometers are eligible for transportation. 

2. If an area within 1.6 kilometers of a catchment area school is determined by the division administration to be unsafe for students to walk to school, the Transportation Supervisor may authorize a pick-up location for students that reside within this area. The administration will  review the area of concern with the appropriate municipal officials with the intent to resolve the safety concern. 

3. Where students eligible for transportation are not offered transportation to an assigned or  catchment area school, their parents or legal guardians  may receive an allowance in lieu of transportation services as determined by the Board. This  provision would not apply to students and families who choose to use their own transportation to get to and from school. 

4. The division reserves the right to refuse transportation if the road to a residence is deemed unsafe for bus travel. 

5. Transportation will be provided for students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 who are unable to walk to and from school because of a physical/medical condition or other disability. Students with special educational needs may receive transportation if authorized by the Transportation Supervisor to receive transportation to an assigned or catchment area school. 

6. In areas where unsupervised bus stops are used for picking up groups of children, parents will be notified of specific pickup locations and times to reduce any problems that may occur. 

7. Alternate pickups and drop-offs are allowed in exceptional circumstances provided the point selected is on a current route and prior approval has been received from the Transportation Supervisor. 

8. The Transportation Supervisor will consider requests from parents to change the designated pickup/drop off location. Requests will be considered if there is room on the bus, the bus route does not require adjustment, the change does not affect route times, and the pickup/drop off is on a regular basis, morning and/or evening five days a week. Students who live in town and who are not eligible for bus transportation are not eligible for consideration under this clause. 

9. In situations of joint custody provisions, where it is determined that the student(s) has two residences, school bus transportation (if applicable) will be considered under this procedure.  An application at the beginning of the school year for busing under this section is to include a calendar (School Division School Year Calendar) clearly identifying the days that the student(s) will be on the bus. If two bus routes are affected, a calendar for each bus is required. The application is to include a letter signed by both parents, indicating that each parent agrees to the arrangements and the schedule as provided in the calendar(s). Students will be granted one primary pick-up/drop off location, and where applicable, will be granted a second pick-up/drop-off location during the same school year within the same catchment area, provided there is room on the bus and the bus route does not require adjustment. 

10. Where families move to a summer residence, that residence is deemed to be their primary residence and transportation is provided if it is within the catchment area of the school they attend. Transportation outside of the catchment area may be provided for those students taking a language or vocational program not offered in the catchment area school. 

11.Students in kindergarten to grade six who attend a childcare facility in the child’s catchment area school may be approved for transportation services for a cost-recovery fee (administered by the childcare facility) under the  following conditions: 

• there is room on the bus 

• the bus route does not require adjustment 

• the change does not significantly affect route times 

• the pickup/drop off is on a regular basis, morning and/or evening five days per week. 

12. Buses will travel on roads maintained by the Municipalities and will not travel on private property unless authorized by the Transportation Supervisor. 

13. Buses will enter private lanes or yards if the private lane is 0.4 kilometers or greater and the lane is maintained suitable for bus travel.  

14. Buses will enter private lanes to allow for the safe transport of students who reside on provincial highways as follows: 

a. If, in the opinion of the Transportation Supervisor, daily traffic on a provincial Highway creates an elevated safety concern and/or the topography of the area reduces visibility to less than 1 kilometer in either direction of the student’s residence. The age of the  students being transported will also be taken into consideration. 

b. Where lane service is deemed necessary, lane service may be authorized in the morning or the afternoon, whichever time is applicable to prevent the children from having to cross the highway, provided that: 

i. The division has the permission of the parent to enter the yard; 

              ii. The lane and yard must be maintained to allow safe access for the bus driver. 

c. Bus drivers have the discretion to enter private lanes during severe weather conditions to improve safety for students. 

15. Where students choose to attend, through the schools of choice provision (refer to School of Choice procedure), a school outside of the assigned (for programming) or catchment area school (based on primary guardian residence), transportation will not be provided unless the parent/guardian transports the child to a safe, mutually agreed location on the regular bus route within the catchment area of the school they choose to attend, and space is available on the bus, or chooses to pay a cost-recovery fee (assessed annually). Students may be granted transportation by the Transportation Supervisor to the school outside of the assigned or catchment area school taking into consideration the following: no additional cost to the division, ride times, impact to other students, safety considerations, designated programs as listed in the Public Schools Act. Students that are transported outside of the assigned or catchment area school will be, whenever possible, the first pickup in the morning and the last drop-off in the afternoon. The Transportation Supervisor reserves the right to deny a request for transportation.

16. Where a rural residence is adjacent to a school catchment area boundary line and if both catchment area buses drive by the residence, that family will have the option to determine which catchment area school their child(ren) will attend. 

17. Non-resident pupils who exercise school of choice to attend a school in the Prairie Spirit School Division may be eligible for transportation on Prairie Spirit School Division buses, only if:

1. the pupil is eligible for transportation support under Provincial Regulation and/or transportation service under Board policy, and there is space available on the bus; and

2. the pupil’s school of choice in the Prairie Spirit School Division is closer than the pupil’s home school, or,

3. arrangements satisfactory to the Prairie Spirit School Division can be made for the pupil(s) to be picked up and dropped off at an agreed upon location or at a transfer point, if there is space on the bus and where said arrangement can be made safely without unreasonable delay for the other pupils on the bus.  Such arrangements shall be subject to the agreement of both school divisions on all associated matters, including space availability, timing, convenience to other pupils, and financial support for costs incurred, in the form of a fee charged to the parents as established from time to time.  Said pick up and drop off point may be outside the boundaries of the Prairie Spirit School Division, if the foregoing conditions are met.

Duration of approval:

1. Once a non-resident application has been given final approval, it will remain in effect, only at the school to which the student has been admitted, until the student completes the highest grade level at the school into which he or she has been admitted.

2. The Division retains the right to rescind the approval at any time, should circumstances arise which restrict the Division’s ability to provide appropriately for the education of its own resident and catchment area students, or which result from unusual student population changes.

18. The division reserves the right to suspend the privilege of transportation to those pupils who, through their actions on a bus, endanger the health and/or safety of themselves or others.