Riding the school bus is a privilege for students, not a right. Students are expected to follow the same behavioral standards while riding school district vehicles as are expected on school property or at school activities, functions or events, and additional specific transportation safety rules. All school rules are in effect while a student is riding a district vehicle or at a school bus stop.
The Superintendent shall establish written rules of conduct for students riding school buses. Such rules shall be reviewed annually by the Superintendent and revised if necessary. If the rules are substantially revised, they shall be submitted to the Board for approval.
A copy of the rules of conduct for students riding buses shall be provided to students at the beginning of the year. The classroom teacher and bus driver shall review the rules with the students at the beginning of each school year. A copy of the rules shall be posted in each bus and shall be available upon request at the District office and in each building principal’s office.
The bus driver shall be responsible for enforcing the rules, and shall work closely with the parent and building principal to modify a student’s behavior. The rules shall include consistent consequences for student misbehavior.
Recommendations for permanent termination of bus privileges will be referred to the Superintendent for final determination. The termination may be appealed to the Board. No further appeal shall be allowed.
A recommendation to terminate bus privileges shall be accompanied by a written record of the incident(s) that led to the recommendation. Said written record shall be provided to the parent/guardian of the student whose bus privileges are being revoked.
Discipline of Students with Disabilities
If a student’s IEP team determines that special transportation is required and documents it on the IEP, all procedures under the IDEA 2004 must be followed with regards to the student and transportation. A suspension from bus transportation depends on whether bus transportation is identified on the IEP:
- If bus transportation is on the IEP, a suspension from the bus would be treated as a suspension from school. An exception to this is if the district provides transportation in some other way, such as transportation in lieu of, because transportation is necessary.
- If bus transportation is not on the IEP, a suspension from the bus would not be counted as suspension from school. In this situation, the student and the parent would have the same obligation to get to and from school as a student without a disability who has been suspended from the bus.
Cross Reference:
3300 Student Discipline
8130 Transportation of Students with Disabilities
Legal Reference:
I.C. § 33-1501 Transportation Authorized
I.C. § 33-205) Denial of school attendance
Policy History
Anticipated First Reading: February 19, 2009
Adopted on: March 12, 2009
Revised on: