Important Questions Related to Special Education Transportation

Is my child automatically provided with special transportation?
Transportation is provided under state and federal law as a realted service to the students Indvidualized Education Plan (IEP). Special transportation will be provided only if it is specified in the child's IEP. Students whose IEP does not require specialized transportation service may be required to walk to school if not eleigble for transportation under Board of Education Policy, or may be required to utilize regular routes.

I want my child to go to daycare three days per week in the afternoon. How can I arrange this?
A student may have different pickup and drop off locations, however he/she must come from the same address five days per week and go to the same address five days per week. Under no circumstances will the District provide transportation from more than one address or to multiple addresses.

My child uses a service animal. Can he bring him on the bus?
The District does allow transportation of a certified service animal for a student with a disability. Some children are allergic to animals so prior arrangements must be made through the school the child attends. Please contact the principal of your child's school for more information and assistance.

My child uses oxygen. Can she bring it on the school bus?
The District does allow transportation of low pressure oxygen in small cylinders. Prior arrangements must be made before a cylinder can be transported bcause oxygen cylinders require special handling and must be secured in the school bus. An oxygen cylinder that is dented, gouged, or pitted may not be transported. Drivers and aides are required to visually check oxygen cylinders each day for dents, gouges, pits, cracks or leaks. Please contact the principal of your child's school for assistance or questions.

My child has a personal care attendent. Can the PCA ride to and rom school on the bus?
A personal care attendant, hired by an outside agency, may be allowed to ride to and from school to monitor and assist a medically fragile special education student. A PCA must complete a Saint Paul Public Schools criminal background check through the District Human Resources Department before they can be allowed to ride the school bus. Please contact the principal of your child's school for information and assistance.

My child uses a safety restraint and the driver will not let the aide ride in the seat behind him. Why?
The Code of Federal Regulations 49CFR Part 571, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards: Child Restraint Systems, requires that the seat directly behind a child wearing a seat-mounted vest or harness, or occupying an infant/toddler car seat, must be either unoccupied or occupied by restrained passengers. Under no circumstances may an unrestrained passenger ride in the seat behind a seat occupied by a child safety restraint.

I live on a dead end street. Will the school bus back down to pickup my child.
No. The school bus cannot legally or safely back down a street. It is the responsibility of the parent to escort the child to the closest accessable point for the school bus.

My daycare is in a cul-de-sac, will the bus pull up to the daycare?
No. School buses cannot back up and most cul-de-sacs are not big enough for a school bus to turn around.

I can't see the bus from my apartment. Will the bus assistant come to the apartment door?
It is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to escort and supervise the child to and from the school bus. In most instances the bus assistant will not leave the vehicle. Under no circumstances will a bus assistant enter an apartment building or private residence.

Do all special education students recieve transportation?
Special transportation service is provided to a student if it is specified in the student's Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). Students whose IEP does not specify transportation as a related service are subject to the distance requirements of the Board of Education Policy on eligibility for District provided transportation service.

Do bus assistants work for the bus company?
Bus assistants are employees of the Saint Paul Public Schools and, in most instances, work in the school or program serviced by the special education route.

How soon after an IEP has been finalized and/or a placement made will transportation commence?
The Transportation Department normally processes changes in about three working days, as opposed to 10 to 12 days for most school distrcts. Additional time may be required if the added stop has a serious impact on the timing of a route and the parents/guardians of other students must be notified of significant changes in pickup time.

The school will notify the parent/guardian of the effective date of the change, the route number, and the pick-up time.

May my child be picked up at home in the morning and dropped at daycare in the afternoon?
Students may have different pick-up and drop-off locations, however the student may have only one pick-up address five days per week and one drop-off address five days per week. Each of the locations must be within the attendance area of the school the child attends, or within the transportation area of a state approved desegregation program.

May my child be picked up or dropped off at a daycare outside of Saint Paul or the service area of the program?
Transportation is not provided to daycare locations outside of the School District boundaries. Transportation is also not provided outside service area of a special education program with a defined attendance area.

I asked the driver about another student on the bus who concerns me. She would not discuss my concerns and told me to call the school. Why?
Information about individual student(s) pertaining to discipline problems, juvenile corrections, family situations, health conditions, or handicapping conditions is considered to be classified information and is restricted under the provisions of Section 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Chapter 13 of Minnesota Statutes, more commonly referred to as the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.

Restricted information regarding specific students may, in certain instances, be supplied to a school bus contractor, or contract driver, for the protection of the student or to facilitate safe transportation due to the student's unique physical problems, handicapping condition(s), or other special needs.

Information about an individual student(s) which is provided to a contractor, or contract driver, by a school principal, nurse, or other staff person, or which is provided by the District central administrative office, is considered confidential and may not be discussed with any person other than an authorized School District representative. This information may not be released to any individual, or organization, including parents of other students attending the same school or program. Restricted data includes information on medical or handicapping conditions provided to the driver under state regulations.

My child uses a wheelchair, are there any restrictions?
All wheelchairs must be in good mechanical condition, with wheels firmly attached and working brakes. All electric wheelchairs must be powered by gel-cell batteries. The school bus drivers are trained to report any wheelchairs that appear to have mechanical defects. They are also trained not transport any electric wheelcahir which is equipped with a lead acid battery.

My child was not ready on time, why couldn't the bus come back?
All District route buses transport many students to school and perform sequential routes serving several schools. The District has an obligation to transport students to school on a timely basis and cannot make other students late by sending buses back for studenst who were not ready at the designated pick-up time.

My child's IEP requires curb pickup, but the driver parks down the street. Why will he not stop in the street?
The school bus may not load double parked at the residence of a student who requires assistance in boarding the school bus. The eight light system is not used in such instances and Minnesota Statute 169.34 "Prohibitions; stopping, parking", states:

169.34 (a) No person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle, except
when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in
compliance with the directions of a police officer or
traffic-control device, in any of the following places:

Subdivision (12) on the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked
at the edge or curb of a street;

My clock is different than the driver's watch. Why won't the driver wait?
The time shown by various watches and clocks will vary. For this reason all Saint Paul Public Schools transportation operations are based upon the offical Unites States Time as determined by the United States Naval Observarory and broadcast by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Frequency Time Services Division. All school bus contractors are required to coordinate thier clocks with this time.

The current NIST time may be obtained by clicking on the heading of this section!

Why did the driver report my child for misbehaving?
School bus drivers and bus assistants are required to report all incidents of unaccep-table student conduct to the building principal on the Incident Report Form. This includes behavior which is realted to the student's IEP handicapping condition. Depending upon the behavior exhibited and the student's handicapping condition, the principal may take no action, may apply an inbuilding consequence, or may may apply a suspension from transportation and/or school.

If a student's disruptive behavior creates an unsafe environment for himself/herself, other students, the bus driver and assistant, or the school bus, transportation may be suspended until such time as the IEP team meets to address the behavior.

Why doesn't my child's bus have a bus assistant?
Certain routes, such as those transportimg Early Childhood Special Education students or students with profound or severe mental or physical disabilities automatically have assistants assinged to their routes. Bus assistants at other programs are assigned to routes based upon the specific neeeds of the transported students and any requirement to have a bus assistant must be stated on the student's IEP.

Why doesn't the bus driver use the red lights and stop sign when she stops at my house.
The District policy on the use of the eight-light system prohibits trhe use of the red lights and stop-arm in situations where a student requires assistance in boarding the school bus, such as pupils who utilize a wheelchair or who have an ambulatory disability. All such pick-ups are made curbside using the four-way flashers.

Will my child receive curb to curb service?
Curb to curb transportation is provided to those students whose handicapping condition and IEP do not permit them to go to a corner pick-up location. Curb pickup may not be possible in situations such as cul-de-sacs, private roads, and arterial streets where is is unsafe to stop a school bus.

Will my child's bus have a two-way radio?
All buses providing service to the Saint Paul Public Schools are equipped with FM or digital two-way radios. Drivers are required to have the two-way radio turned on at all times while on District service.

Will the driver blow the horn to let me know he/she has arrived to pick-up my child?
Parents should have their children properly dressed for prevailing weather conditions and ready to board the school bus at least five minutes prior to the scheduled pickup time. The school bus driver cannot disturb others in the neighborhood my honking the horn. It is critical that the school bus must maintain schedule and the driver cannot wait if the child is not ready at the designated pickup time.

Will the pick-up and/or drop-off times vary from day to day?
The pickup time should remain the same. The school bus may arrive early on some days when the driver has been notified that one or more students will not require service, however the driver may not leave until the student has boarded the school bus or the designated picku-up time has passed.

The transportation Dedpartment does not time return trips home because afternoon route timing may vary significantly due to students who are absent from the bus for after school activities and due to traffic conditions.

The easiest door for me is in the rear of my apartment building. Will the school bus pull into the parkign lot?
Probably Not. The school district is not obligated to make a student pick-up or drop-off at any point other than a safely accessible city street. Before autrhorizing a school bus to enter private property Transportation Department safety staff have to verify that there is an unobstructed traffic lane, that the school bus does not have to back up any any point while entering or traveling through the lot, and that no small children are present. The property owner, not manager, must give the School District and contractor written permission to travel on his/her property and release them from any liability for damage to the parking surface.

Sometimes I do not have my child ready on time, how long will the bus wait.
Each school bus does severaol trips to different schools and transports a number of students on each trip. The bus cannot wait extended periods for students who are not ready because each minute spent waiting a student's home means a minute late on subsequent stops and routes.

The bus driver will wait a maximum of one minute beyond the scheduled pickup time. If the student frequently is not ready at the scheduled time and the latness is impacting later pickups the driver may be authorized to leave after twenty to thirty seconds if the student is not visible.

My child has trouble climbing the bus steps. Can he ride a lift bus with an elevator?
A wheelchair lift is not an elevator. The lift is not designed to raise ambulatory students.

Do I have to be there when my child comes home?
School District procedures require that a parent, guardian, or a responsible person known to the school bus driver and/or bus assistant be present at the home to receive the special education child unless the IEP team has determined that the student may be released without adult suipervision or the program has been exempted from this requirement.

What will occur if I am not home when my child arrives?
The school bus driver will radio in for instructions. The driver will normally be told to continue on with the route so other students will not be impacted. The Transportation Department and the school will attempt to contact the parents or guardians at the contact phone numbers in district records, followed by the individual listed by the parent or guardian as the emergency alternate address.

In the event that the Transportation Department and school are not successful in locating the parent or guardian, and the person listed as the emergency alternate address is not available or declines to accept the child, the student will be transferred to the custody of the Saint Paul Police Department as an abandoned child.