Pupil Transportation Department 

From Behind the Wheel

Notes about Notes from the Pupil Transportation Department

On rare occasions it may be necessary for a student to ride home on a different bus than the one that is assigned to them.  During prior years, it has been our practice to accept notes from both sets of parents involved (both sending and receiving) allowing one student to ride home with another student at the Building Principal’s discretion either for play dates or homework help, or at times, for daycare purposes.  As budgets get tighter and gas prices rise, our ridership continues to increase making it more and more difficult to ‘guarantee’ that only 2 students will share a seat on the bus. 

In an effort to maintain as reasonable a number of students on a bus as possible, the Pupil Transportation Department can no longer support the practice of students casually riding on another student’s bus whether they have a note or not.  We feel it is important that only eligible students ride buses and that they ride only the bus to which they are assigned.

We understand that situations will arise that may make it necessary for students to ride on a different bus and can certainly support exceptions.  For instance, we would ask that in situations where parents may be out of town for a period of time, that they use the Alternate Address Busing form.

In cases where students are working on a project together and must ride home together for that purpose we would ask that parents contact the Pupil Transportation Department prior to the day this needs to occur to determine if there is room on the bus.

It is important that we know who is riding our buses.

We thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we strive to continue to safely and efficiently transport your students to and from school each day.

Tracy Chapman

Director of Pupil Transportation