School Bus Transportation Service

Mission

Transportation service is a key function associated with providing a quality education for students eligible for transportation services. The mission of the Office of Transportation is to transport eligible students to and from school or special events in a safe, timely, efficient, and dependable manner.

Overview

Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) provides transportation to elementary school students who live more than a mile from their respective neighborhood schools and to middle and high school students who live more than 1.5 miles from their respective assigned citywide schools. Exceptions are made only in cases where walking conditions are hazardous. School bus service may also be provided to transport students and staff to and from extracurricular activities. No one, including parents, is to enter or be on a school bus unless the City Schools Director of Transportation gives approval.

City Schools buses and contract buses are inspected thoroughly three times a year in accordance with guidelines established by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. School bus drivers must satisfactorily complete an extensive and comprehensive training program in order to become certified eligible to drive. Drivers also must complete annual in-service training. In addition, drivers are required to meet health and driving record standards. Drivers and bus aides are subject to background checks and drug and alcohol screening.

A well-ordered transportation system is realized as a result of the collective and cooperative efforts of drivers, bus aides, pupils, parents, teachers, and administrators.

Role and Responsibilities of the School

The school principal is responsible for the discipline of his/her students who ride the school buses. Students who cannot comply with the school bus regulations may be denied the privilege of riding school buses. When this happens, school attendance is still required and parents must make other arrangements for their children to get to school. Students may be suspended and/or recommended for expulsion by the principal due to violations of bus policies. Video recording devices may be placed on school buses to record activity which may be useful or necessary to assist with discipline on the buses.

Role and Responsibilities of School-Based Transportation Coordinator

School-based transportation coordinators are 12-month employees, generally assistant principals or principals' designees, who perform myriad, vital functions that contribute significantly toward ensuring the provision of reliable transportation to eligible City Schools students. Their collective efforts facilitate the attainment of transportation-related goals and objectives; thereby, better enabling City Schools to accomplish its core mission.

Major responsibilities of school-based transportation coordinators:

Serve as liaison between the City Schools' Office of Transportation and the school.
Serve as liaison between school bus personnel and school administration.
Respond to transportation-related inquiries and/or concerns from parents.
Use the Office of Transportation Incident Log to report transportation-related concerns to Customer Care Specialists.
Monitor arrival of buses in the mornings and afternoons.
Coordinate the receipt, safeguarding, and handling of MTA bus ticket book allocations.

Role and Responsibilities of the School Bus Driver

School bus drivers accept responsibility for transporting children to and from school. Therefore, school bus drivers are given the authority to:

Assign seats.
Decide if their route is unsafe for school bus travel because of weather or road conditions (decisions must be reported to the transportation office).
Adjust their route due to emergency conditions.
Refuse to pick up or discharge any student at any stop other than the student's designated stop without a written request or authorization from City Schools' Office of Transportation.

All school bus drivers are trained and certified by City Schools in accordance with the regulations of the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.

Role and Responsibilities of the School Bus Aide

School bus aides work with the driver to ensure that all students are safe on the school bus. Bus aides sit midway in the bus, not in the front. Bus aides are responsible for:

Assisting with seat assignments.
Taking attendance on the bus to and from school.
Signing in at the school upon arrival in the morning and afternoon.
Securing car seats, wheelchairs (on/off the lift), etc.
Helping to maintain proper discipline.
Seeking emergency assistance when needed.
Working with students only in and around the school bus.

(Note: Bus aides cannot assist students beyond the curb; parents must escort
students to and from the school bus.)

Role and Responsibilities of the Parent

Parents are responsible for reviewing the "School Bus Rules and Regulations" with their children.
Parents are responsible for instructing their children to cross in front of the bus after being discharged, if the locations of their residences require them to cross the road at bus stops.
Parents are responsible for the safety and supervision of their children from the time the children leave home in the morning until they board the bus, and at the end of the day from the time the school bus departs the unloading area
until the children reach their home.
Parents are liable for damage caused by their children to the property of others, including the school bus. When children walk to and from the bus stop or school, while they wait at the school bus stop, and when they walk home from the school bus stop at the end of the school day, they must show consideration and respect for the property of citizens whose homes and places of business are located along their routes.
Parents should have their children ready to board the bus ten (10) minutes before the scheduled arrival time of the bus.
Parents of children who walk to bus stops should develop specific routes which minimize the exposure of their children to vehicular traffic when walking to and from the bus stops.
Parents should talk to their children about obeying school crossing guards and traffic control signals.
Parents should walk to and from the bus stops with their younger children, using this opportunity to teach their children proper pedestrian practices. If parents cannot accompany their children, arrangements should be made, if possible, for older children (sister, brother, or neighbor) to do so.
Parents with special needs children should be home to receive their children from the school bus at the end of the school day. If parents cannot be home to receive their children from the school bus, arrangements should be made, if possible, for older children (sister, brother, or neighbor) to receive the children from the school bus.
Parents should use weather forecasts to determine how their children should dress. Encourage children to wear the type of clothing that will not only keep them warm and allow them to see where they are going, but which also enables them to be seen.
Due to the danger of entanglement while boarding or getting off of a school bus, parents should remove all drawstrings from their children's clothes and book bags.
Parents are responsible for completing the "Student School Bus Information" form. The bus personnel or transportation staff may need to contact parents about emergencies or discipline matters.
Parents should notify their children's schools a week before they move to another residence.
Riding the school bus is a privilege. This privilege may be temporarily denied or permanently revoked if the misconduct of the child jeopardizes the safe operation of the school bus or the safety of the children riding the bus.

School Bus Rules and Regulations Before Loading:

Be careful if walking to a bus stop.
Be ready to board the bus at least ten (10) minutes before the bus arrives.
Stay out of the street while waiting to board the school bus.
Conduct yourself in a safe and orderly manner.
Do not approach the bus until it comes to a complete stop.
Carefully enter the bus and move quickly to your seat.

While on the School Bus

The driver is in complete charge of the bus and students must respect his/her authority.
While the bus is in motion, students are to sit facing forward in the seats that have been assigned by the driver and/or school administrator.
Students may converse in a normal manner. Name-calling or loud, profane, or obscene language will not be permitted.
Students must not extend any part of their bodies through the school bus windows.
Students may not eat, drink, smoke, and play radios or tape recorders, or CD players, etc. while on board school buses.
Books, coats, school equipment, and band instruments may be transported on the bus provided they can be secured in the seat and not placed in the bus aisles. For other objects, the driver may request written approval from the City Schools' Office Of Transportation.
Students must cooperate in keeping the bus clean and must not damage it. Any malicious or willful damage to a school bus will result in immediate withdrawal of transportation services for the student or students involved. In addition, the cost of repairing the damage must be satisfactorily settled.
Students are prohibited from throwing items out of the bus windows.
Pushing, shoving, and fighting are prohibited.
Absolute silence is necessary when approaching a railroad crossing.
In case of an emergency, students are to remain in the bus unless otherwise instructed by the driver.

Unloading and Leaving the School Bus

Students should remain seated until the bus comes to a complete stop.
When unloading, always move a safe distance away from the bus. Never go under the bus for an object.
Students who must cross the street in front of the bus due to the location of their respective residences must move at least ten (10) feet in front of the bus before attempting to cross the street. Before crossing, look in both directions to be sure that no traffic is approaching.

Role and Major Responsibilities of Customer Care Specialists

Customer Care Specialists are responsible for receiving, responding to, and documenting complaints from the school systems' internal and external customers, including the 311 Call Center. Customer Care Specialists are available to assist customers from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Examples of responsibilities include:

Receiving, documenting, investigating, and resolving complaints.
Assisting customers who have questions or concerns about transportation-related issues.
Identifying customers' needs and determining and initiating appropriate responsive action(s).
Responding to Office of Transportation Incident Logs submitted by schools and four-part School Bus Incident Reports submitted by drivers or bus aides.
Coordinating/promulgating transportation changes.

City Schools' Affiliation with the 311 Call Center

The intent of City Schools' affiliation with the 311 Call Center is to facilitate and expedite the in-take, investigation, and resolution of complaints related to transportation service operated by City Schools or its contractors. The purpose of the affiliation is to provide City Schools students and their parents or guardians, as well as the general public, access to an established, effective, and proven mechanism by which to obtain expeditious and equitable resolution of their respective complaints and, also, by which to submit comments and suggestions.

The affiliation enables City Schools to utilize the 311 Call Center as the central repository to capture data regarding complaints, comments, and suggestions relative to the transportation service operated by City Schools or its contractors, as well as ensuring that both the City Schools' Office of Transportation and SchoolStat (City Schools' accountability tool to statically track and measure City Schools functions) are better equipped to track complaints, identify trends, and measure the volume of complaints accurately and reliably by category. Through the affiliation with the 311 Call Center, a mechanism and process is in place to track, investigate, and resolve complaints so as to ensure that City Schools and its contractors are held accountable to perform their assigned tasks to safely, timely, efficiently, and reliably transport City Schools students.

Global Position System (GPS) and Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL)

The introduction of Global Position System (GPS) and Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) technologies enables City Schools' Office of Transportation to obtain automatic, real-time tracking of buses, and related data. These technologies result in improved service reliability, increased operational efficiencies, and heightened security. All buses operated by City Schools are equipped with GPS/AVL technologies as June 2006. (All buses operated by City Schools contractors are scheduled to be equipped with GPS/AVL technologies by the end of August 2006.)