Policy 0702.51 Transportation Safety

West Ada School District recognizes the responsibility for providing safe and efficient transportation for all students who ride school buses to and from district schools and school related activities. The district’s responsibility for a student begins when a student boards a school district bus for transportation to/from school, or to participate in extra-curricular activities, and ends when the student disembarks the bus at his/her designated home stop or return to the school following the extra-curricular activity. Parents are responsible for the safety of their students as they walk to and from the bus stop and while they are waiting for the bus at the bus stop.

Bus Stop Location

Whenever possible, bus stops will be located at or near corners and intersections. Generally, buses will not travel down cul-de-sacs unless the bus is picking up students with identified disabilities. Buses will not travel down private roadways or over any road not maintained as part of a county, state, or federal highway system. Students may have to walk several blocks to the nearest bus stop depending on the route structure, and in certain circumstances, students can be required to walk up to one and one half miles to the nearest established bus stop. Stops are designed based on student locations, traffic patterns, and route hazard considerations, and may change every year based on student population. Visibility from the home to the bus stop is not a criteria for establishing bus stops. Parents are encouraged to accompany their children while walking to/from the bus stop or have students walk together as a group.

Optional Half-Day Kindergarten and Transportation

Those who have chosen to participate in the optional half-day kindergarten program, when such is provided, may utilize district transportation for morning delivery to school. However, the district does not provide mid-day transportation from school and parents/legal guardians are responsible for mid-day pick up of the student. Failure to pick up a student and/or repeated lateness in picking up a student will result in a meeting with the school's administration for consideration of the student's eligibility to continue to participate in the optional program. Exceptions with regard to mid-day transportation will occur as detailed in a qualifying student's IEP or Section 504 Plan.

Walk Zones and Safety Busing

The district generally does not provide transportation for students who live within one and one half miles from the nearest appropriate school. Walk zone distances shall be determined by measuring the distance, in the most direct route from the home of the student to the nearest property line of the school of attendance. The Board of Trustees may authorize transportation of students a lesser distance when in its judgment the age, health, or safety of the student warrants. The Board of Trustees shall establish and maintain a policy for evaluating and rating all areas to be considered for safety busing, and shall have on file a completed measuring or rating instrument for all safety busing requests submitted to the State Department of Education. Details of this policy can be found in the Transportation Department Employee Policies and Procedures Manual. The local Board of Trustees shall annually approve all new safety busing locations. All safety busing sites will be re-evaluated at intervals of at least every three years using the board adopted measuring or scoring instrument.