Due to health and safety precautions, routes have been rerouted to successfully eliminate the Hub transfer system.

• Families have been surveyed and about 50% have indicated they will transport their own children, so we expect to achieve physical distancing on our buses.
• To accommodate this change, start times have shifted slightly.

September 9, 2020 Update:

As we communicated in mid-August, our Return to Learn plan required us to make significant changes to our Transportation system this year. To provide a safe environment for transporting our students during the COVID pandemic, we needed to reroute all buses and eliminate our hub transfer. In addition to this challenge, we needed to do so in a very short time frame - approximately 2 weeks. (School districts typically take several months to change transportation systems.) We understand that these changes lengthened bus routes for all of our drivers and students. However, the transfer system we had in place was out of compliance with Department of Health guidelines that prohibit congregating among large groups. The current alternative was by far the best option among the choices available and within the condensed time frame.

The decision to change to this model was based on three guiding principles:

1. Health and Safety of Students and Staff:  We could not operate a traditional hub-and-spoke system and transfer 2,000 students per site while maintaining safe physical distancing standards required to protect our students and staff. This transfer system also did not allow for any contact tracing standards, which are required by MDH. 
2. Impact on Parents & Families - Last November (pre-COVID), our district had conducted an extensive transportation study and considered other transportation alternatives such as a two-tiered system. The other alternatives would have significantly changed all school start/end times, with little advance notice to families, and placed some family members on different schedules and buses. The system also needed to be utilized for all learning models without changes to student schedules or bus routes. 
3. Financial Constraints - The district has cut $7.5 million over the last two years. We simply do not have the financial resources to purchase additional buses and hire more bus drivers required to add additional routes. We needed to find the most efficient solution within existing budget constraints.

To accomplish this large-scale change in a tight time-frame, we partnered with K-12 Transportation (CESO), the same group that had conducted our 2019 Transportation Study, to provide expedited routing services. 

We recognize that routes for some students are longer than anyone would like. There were no better options given our current circumstances, but we are thankful and proud of our entire transportation department for stepping up to the challenge and successfully transporting our students to and from our schools during these challenging times.

1. Immediately follow the directions of the driver.
2. Sit in your seat facing forward.
3. Talk quietly and use appropriate language.
4. Keep all parts of your body inside the bus.
5. Keep your arms, legs and belongings to yourself.
6. No fighting, harassment, intimidation or horseplay.
7. Do not throw any object.
8. No eating, drinking, or use of alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.
9. Do not bring any weapon or dangerous objects on the school bus.
10. Do not damage the school bus.

It is a privilege – not a right – to ride the bus.

Students in K-10th grade are required to receive classroom training on school bus safety and understand the competencies by the third week of school.

Student Bus Safety Training Topics

• Riding the school bus is a privilege, not a right
• Know the bus rules
• Know the consequences
• Know the danger zone
• Waiting for the bus, riding the bus and leaving the bus
• Know evacuation procedures

Student Bus Safety Training

• School Bus Safety (K-5)
• School Bus Safety (6-10)

If you are a parent and have questions regarding your student qualifying for special transportation, contact your student's case manager at your student's building of attendance. Scheduling may take up to 10 days.

Special Education Transportation

Special education transportation is provided as a service based upon individual student needs. For a student to be eligible for special education transportation, the student's IEP team determines that a need for special transportation exists and incorporates it into the student's IEP.

Request for Special Transportation

A request for special transportation form must be completed and received and approved by the Special Education Department and forwarded to the transportation department prior to any bus service being routed. A member of your student’s Special Services Team will complete the form. Once the completed form is received by the transportation department, every effort will be made to route your student as quickly as possible. Because of all the people that need to be notified (driver, bus assistant, parents and school) it may take up to ten working days to arrange the ride. If it is ten working days or less before school starts in the fall, a bus route may not be arranged by the start of school. In this case a parent/caregiver may be asked to provide transportation for a maximum of ten school days.

Factors to Consider When Determining Whether or Not a Student Needs Special Transportation

While most students with disabilities receive the same transportation services as non-disabled children, it is the responsibility of the IEP team to determine whether the student’s disability prevents the student from using the same transportation provided to non-disabled students.  In developing recommendations for special transportation, IEP teams should consider the following relating to a student and his/her disability.

• Mobility issues: Is the student non-ambulatory, wheelchair bound?
• Communication: Is the student hard of hearing; nonverbal; has limited understanding of questions and directions; non-English speaking?
• Physical: Does the student need assistive devices to maintain a sitting position; need assistance walking and going up and down stairs?
• Health Needs: Does the student have seizures; fatigue that causes him/her to fall asleep on bus, require oxygen equipment?
• Behavior: Does the student have significant behavioral issues; physically abusive to other students, attempts to get off the bus, is self-abusive?

Special transportation should not be considered for any child who is capable of riding the regular school bus.

The bus drives right past my house. Why can’t it stop at my house?

The higher frequency of stops makes other drivers impatient. This may result in drivers driving around the bus and causes greater safety concerns than the distance a student has to walk to the bus stop. It also delays the bus by increasing the number of stops, making overall student ride time longer.

What if my child occasionally needs to be dropped off at a different stop?

Students may not be picked up or dropped off at a destination other than their scheduled bus stop. 

What do I need to do so my child will have a successful bus ride to/from school?

• Arrange for your students to be at their bus stop five minutes before the scheduled pick-up time.
• Monitor children from damaging the property of others at the bus stop.
• Be aware that the bus will pick up and drop off students at the same stop every day school is in session.
• Help your children learn their bus numbers and appropriate paths to/from the bus stop to home.
• Review the bus safety rules outlined in this book with your children.
• Accompany younger children to the bus stop and meet the bus at the end of the day for the first days of school, or arrange for an older child or child care provider to be at the bus stop for the first days of school.
• Understand that the bus pick-up and drop-off times are based on existing weather and road conditions. Traffic congestion, road construction, inclement weather and population changes may cause minor adjustments in pick-up and drop-off times.  Parents will be notified of any major changes in bus schedules that affect their child.

Daycare

All students are required to have an Alternate Site Form, which includes daycare information, on file for each student with the Transportation Department.

This information is used to assign bus stops and for notification in case of an emergency. Students cannot be transported to or from daycare sites that are outside the school attendance zone.

The Alternate Site Transportation Form must be completed and in the hands of the Transportation Department by August 12. There is no guarantee that we can accommodate daycare transportation once routes have been set for the start of school.

Daycare Application Procedure

Grades K-12: Bussing will remain the same as previous year.

New daycare needs or changes will need to be communicated to the Transportation Department. Alternate Site Requests must allow five days before the change can take effect. If the daycare situation changes in the course of the school year, a new form must be submitted to enact the change. Alternate Site Requests will only be accepted by a parent or guardians.

Students with Special Needs

Vehicles are equipped with two-way radios to allow drivers to communicate directly with the Transportation Department. Specially adapted seats, support and/or protective devices shall be used for all students who require such devices to ensure safe transportation. These shall be selected in consultation with the parents on the basis of the specific needs of the student.

Assistants will be assigned to supervise and assist students in transit as deemed necessary by the Director of Special Education and Transportation. Drivers and assistants are required to have in-service training in first aid and in dealing with specific needs of the children on the route.

How do I get special transportation for my child if I believe they need it due to a medical condition or because they receive special education services?

In the case of students receiving special education services, the IEP team must establish that special transportation is required as a related service in order for the student to benefit from their special education services.

In the case of a medical condition, special transportation may be provided when a team of individuals knowledgeable about the student, including parent input, evaluates the need for an accommodation under Section 504. Contact the principal or school social worker for elementary students or the school counselor for middle or high school students. Also, Minnesota law provides for special transportation for a student placed in an approved Care and Treatment program for mental health or chemical dependency treatment. Again contact the principal or school social worker for elementary students or the school counselor for middle or high school students.

Responsibilities of parents/guardians

• Have the student dressed and ready to board the vehicle five minutes prior to the scheduled pick-up time.
• Provide and assume responsibility for the movement of the student from the residence to the curbside for pick up, and from the curbside to the residence upon return of the student from school.
• Communicate problems with special transportation to Transportation at 763-552-6287.
• In the event it is determined that the matter is beyond the scope of the Transportation Department, the Special Education Director will be contacted for assistance.

Student Behavior

Minnesota Statute 121A.59, Bus Transportation is a Privilege Not a Right

Transportation by school bus is a privilege, not a right, for an eligible student. A student’s eligibility to ride a school bus may be revoked for a violation

of school bus safety or conduct policies, or for violation of any other law governing student conduct on a school bus, pursuant to a written school district discipline policy. Revocation of a student’s bus riding privilege is not an exclusion, expulsion, or suspension under the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act. Revocation procedures for a student who is an individual with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, United States Code, title

20, section 1400 et seq., section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, United States Code, title 29, section 794, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Public Law 101-336, are governed by these provisions.

All students, public, non-public and charter, are expected to behave in accordance with federal, state and local laws and rules, and with District and school policies and regulations, and in a way that respects the rights and safety of others. Corrective action to discipline a student and/or to modify a student’s behavior will be taken by staff when a student’s behavior does not fall within these parameters. A number of our buses are equipped with a video camera which records video and audio to monitor student behavior. We have found the cameras to be valuable for resolving student behavior issues.

Be a good neighbor

Students are expected to respect neighbors’ property as they go to or from the bus stop or wait for the bus. Good neighbors do not:

• Litter.
• Walk on lawns.
• Pick flowers or other plants from lawns or gardens.
• Throw stones, snowballs or other objects.
• Leave objects lying across curbs or sidewalks where they might trip other students or adults.
• Climb trees, fences, or retaining walls.

A Message to Motorists on the Road

Safety is everyone’s responsibility, please know and obey school bus laws.

Motorists who fail to stop for a school bus with RED LIGHTS FLASHING AND STOP ARM EXTENDED may be charged with a gross misdemeanor punishable by a $700 to $3,000 fine and/or one year in jail.  Flashing amber (yellow) lights are a warning that the bus is preparing to stop.

Flashing red lights and extended stop arm mean that the bus is stopped either to load or unload passengers.

Danger Zone

Please remind your children they must never try to retrieve books or papers from around or underneath the bus. We suggest children keep all papers and articles in a backpack.

Winter Safety

In winter students should:

• Be dressed in warm winter clothing, hats, mittens and boots.
• Use the handrail when boarding or exiting the bus to prevent slipping on icy steps or road surfaces.
• Not stand or play on snow piles at the bus stop; students playing on snow piles could slide into the street into the path of oncoming traffic.

Severe Weather

Severe weather conditions may result in:

• A two-hour delay in opening schools.
• Closing schools for the entire day.
• Closing schools before the end of the regular school day.

School Closing Information

When ISD 911 school schedules or activities change because of severe weather or other emergencies, the information is shared with the public in the following ways:

• By telephone from the Skyward mass notification system.
• On the District website at www.c-ischools.org.
• On WCCO Channel 4, WCCO 830 AM, KSTP TV Channels, KARE TV Channel 11, KMSP/FOX Channel 9.

Did You Know?

• ISD 911 provides transportation to and from school for more than 5,200 students.
• District buses travel more than 900,000 miles each year.
• All buses must pass rigorous state inspections each year.
• All buses have two-way radios for constant contact with the dispatchers.
• Bus evacuation drills are held twice a year at all grade levels.
• ISD 911 maintains approximately 110 vehicles and employs more than 120 transportation employees.
• The school district is over 252 square miles.