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Service
Standards
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| A. |
ELIGIBILITY: |
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1. |
High Schools -
2.5 miles for all students attending high school. |
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Exceptions are allowed
in the following areas: |
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a. |
Students residing in
designated safety areas. |
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b. |
Special Education
students who are not ambulatory and/or who are not capable of
protecting their own welfare while traveling to and from school as
determined by their Individualized Education Program
(I.E.P.). |
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c. |
Students requiring
medical transportation as approved by the District Health
Services. |
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d. |
Students assigned to
the Bilingual Orientation at Meany will be provided transportation
if they reside outside 2 .0 miles from Meany.
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2. |
Middle Schools
- 2.0 miles for all students attending middle school. |
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Exceptions are allowed
in the following areas: |
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a. |
Students residing in
designated safety areas. |
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|
b. |
Special Education
students who are not ambulatory and/or who are not capable of
protecting their own welfare while traveling to and from school as
determined by their Individualized Education Program
(I.E.P.). |
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c. |
Students requiring
medical transportation as approved by the District Health
Services. |
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d. |
Students assigned to
Aki Kurose Middle School will be provided transportation if they
reside more than 1.0 mile from the school.
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3. |
Elementary / K-8
Schools - 1.0 mile for all students assigned within choice or
cluster.
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Exceptions are allowed
in the following areas:
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|
a. |
Students residing in
designated safety areas. |
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|
b. |
Special Education
students who are not ambulatory and/or who are not capable of
protecting their own welfare while traveling to and from school as
determined by their individualized Education Program
(I.E.P.). |
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|
c. |
Students requiring
medical transportation as approved by the District's Health
Services.
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| B. |
BUS STOP
LOCATION: |
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Assignment
Criteria - Students will be assigned to neighborhood bus stops
within the following guidelines: |
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1. |
Bus stops will be
located on arterial or primary access residential streets
only. |
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2. |
Walking distance to
bus stops will be .75 mile or less for middle/high school students
where feasible. |
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3. |
Walking distance to
bus stops will be .50 mile or less for elementary school students
where feasible. Elementary students will not be assigned to bus
stops which require them to cross arterial status streets which are
contrary to the established recommended walkways for adjacent
reference area schools. |
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4. |
Schools with a large
geographical draw area shall use Neighborhood Attendance Area
school stops.
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| C. |
BUS STOP
MODIFICATION: |
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Once established, bus
stops will be modified only under the following
conditions: |
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1. |
Safety concern -
conditions at the established bus stop do not meet the bus stop
selection criteria as defined by the District
guidelines. |
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2. |
Property owner
complaint - upon receipt of a concern from a resident adjacent or
close by an established bus stop; if after working with the
students and schools associated with the bus stop the concern
cannot be resolved a relocation of the stop will be
considered. |
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3. |
Requests for stop
location changes may be submitted to the Transportation Office for
review by completing a stop change request form. A written response
will be sent to the requester. |
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4. |
Students who do not
use their assigned school bus may have their bus stop removed when
doing so will result in reduced operating cost. Prior to a bus stop
being removed, parents/guardians will be advised of the plan to
remove the stop from service. Parents/guardians will be able to
request reinstatement at a later date. Service will be restored
within 5 working days of the request.
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| D. |
ONE-WAY RIDE
TIME: |
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All routes will be
designed to operate 60 minutes or less where feasible. Ride time is
defined as the time the first student boards the bus until the bus
arrives at school in the A.M. or in the P.M., the time the bus
leaves the school until the last student is dropped off the bus.
(Feasible means ride time for 90% of a given route’s
population shall not exceed the time standards.)
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| E. |
SEATING ON
BUSES |
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The basic seating
guideline for the District is: for students from Kindergarten
through grade 5, three students to a standard (39 inch width) seat;
for grade 6 through 12, two to a seat; allowances, depending on
student size and seating space, are granted. No standees are
permitted on school/chartered buses.
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| F. |
BEFORE AND
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY BUSES: |
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Transportation for
before school and after school activity programs for elementary and
middle schools will be provided to schools and programs that have
funding to cover the cost of the service. The following guidelines
will apply: |
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1. |
Time requested does
not conflict with regular to and from service. |
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2. |
Bus routes will be
designed under the same service standards as to and from
transportation. |
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3. |
Transportation service
level will follow the IEP requirements for special needs
students. |
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High school students
eligible for District transportation, as outlined under section A
(Eligibility) will be provided Metro script.
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| G. |
BUS
ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE AND SCHOOL START/END TIME
SCHEDULE: |
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Developing bus
arrival/departure times and school start/end times must be
coordinated, and approval of each must be completed prior to the
start of the open enrollment process. Bus arrival/departure times
are a part of the transportation standards approved annually by the
School Board; school start/end times are approved by the
Superintendent. |
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The bus arrival/departure time windows shall be:
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High Schools: between
7:40 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. |
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Middle Schools &
K-8 Schools: between 7:45 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. |
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Elementary Schools,
TOPS K-8, and Salmon Bay K-8: between 8:50 a.m. – 3:40
p.m. |
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Head Start a.m.
Session: between 7:55 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. |
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Head Start p.m.
Session: between 12:55 p.m. – 4:35 p.m. |
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Bell times are set to minimize transportation cost. Individual
schools may request a waiver from these times provided that the
request waiver is cost neutral to the District and does not have a
discriminatory impact on any protected class of students, including
students with disabilities. Schools seeking a waiver are to submit
their request to the Director of School Service for review. The
Director will review requested time changes with Metro Transit (if
appropriate), District transportation department, Director of
Special Education, and Education Director to identify any student
service or school activity conflicts, and to determine if the
request is cost neutral to the District. The Director of School
Service will provide the Executive Management Team with a
recommendation, for approval or denial.
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| H. |
ALTERNATE
TRANSPORTATION SERVICE ADDRESS: |
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The choice address
will be the transportation service address. Alternate service
addresses will be considered for feasibility for the following
situations: |
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- Child care
- Supervision
- Work (student
employment)
- After school
Activity
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The District will accept a request for service from one address in
the AM and a second address in the PM, provided the addresses
qualify under the eligibility criteria and is feasible.
Transportation will be considered feasible when existing service is
available or a stop can be established without increasing time or
cost to the route.
The
provision of transportation service to/from an alternate address
will be granted for the requested school year only.
Parents/guardians must re-apply for consideration of continuation
each year.
Schools may issue a
temporary bus card to students who (with parent/guardian consent)
wish to use an existing stop on an infrequent basis provided there
is an existing stop within service assignment guidelines. Stops
cannot be added for this purpose.
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| I. |
CHANGE OF
RESIDENCE ADDRESS DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR |
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Yellow school bus
service will be provided in those instances where service is
established and within choice or cluster. Requests for movement
outside of choice and cluster will be evaluated on an individual
basis. Requests, which will require re-routing and increased
time/miles, may be denied. Metro passes or script may be authorized
to secondary students when yellow school bus service is not
available. Any authorization to continue will be limited to the
current school year only.
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| J. |
OUT OF
DISTRICT TRANSFERS: |
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Students approved
through the Office of Student Assignment to attend a Seattle Public
School from an out of District address may be authorized District
provided transportation under the following condition: |
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1. |
High School and
Middle School Students may utilize existing bus stops and
routes serving their school of assignment. It will be their
responsibility to get to and from this existing
service. |
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2. |
Elementary / K-8
Students: |
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a. |
The parent/guardian
must provide the District with an alternate or childcare address to
which they will transport the student and a contact
person. |
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b. |
The alternate or
childcare address provided must be within the Seattle School
District, outside the transportation eligibility boundary for the
assigned school and within choice or cluster. |
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c. |
The parent/guardian is
responsible for transporting the student to the alternate or
childcare address.
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| K. |
SPACE
AVAILABLE TRANSPORTATION: |
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The provision of space
available transportation will be allowed under the following
conditions: |
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1. |
The granting of space
available will be at the discretion of the Transportation Review
Board only. |
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2. |
Space available will
be an option the Review Board may consider when determining an
appeal. The following conditions must be present: |
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a. |
Existing stops must be
used. |
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b. |
Access to the stop
must be within District assignment criteria. |
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c. |
Space availability
will be defined as five or more seats below the rated capacity of
the bus assigned to the route in question after October
1st. |
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d. |
The granting of space
available will not increase cost to the District. If service needs
change during the course of the school year the authorization may
be rescinded. |
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e. |
The granting of space
availability will be based on the condition that there are no other
peer group students available with whom the student can
walk. |
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Appeals: Reference
2009-2010 Guidelines and Procedures for Student Assignment.
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| L. |
MINIMUM
RIDERSHIP STANDARD FOR HIGH SCHOOLS |
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• High School
students shall generally be assigned to Metro. |
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Yellow school bus
service will be provided to grades 9 - 12 at the regular high
schools only when it is the most cost effective form of service.
Generally there must be a minimum of twenty (20) or more student
riders in a common service area and it is feasible to tie the route
with a bus all ready in-service. Determination will be made based
on student assignment data available to the Transportation Office
on July 1st. If actual ridership drops below the minimum in the
2009-2010 school year, this service may be rescinded after the
following actions have occurred: |
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- School administrator
is notified
- Students/parents are
notified
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Service modifications
will be scheduled to occur at semester break only.
|
| M. |
MIDDAY
KINDERGARTEN SERVICE |
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Midday kindergarten
service to schools with both A.M. and P.M. sessions will have
students assigned to either A.M. or P.M. session based on
predefined transportation service areas. Parents and/or schools may
choose to assign a session that is not within the defined service
area provided the parent/guardian assumes responsibility for
transportation.
Principals may request
a waiver due to unusual circumstances such as overcrowding or
ethnic/gender imbalances. Accommodations will be granted if the
adjustments can be made without increasing transportation operating
costs.
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| N. |
YELLOW SCHOOL
BUS SERVICE FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS |
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Yellow school bus
service will be provided for middle school students eligible for
transportation who are assigned to the following: |
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1. |
A regional reference
area school. |
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2. |
A designated out of
region school for southeast region students. |
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3. |
An eligible
non-traditional graded school: K-6, K-7, or K-8. In these
situations the yellow school bus service will be determined based
upon the K-5 draw area. |
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4. |
Salmon Bay 6-8 graders
residing in Queen Anne/Magnolia, Central, South, Southeast, West
Seattle South and West Seattle North clusters. |
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5. |
Mercer residing in the
Muir, Kimball and Beacon Hill reference areas. |
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Metro passes or script
will be provided to other middle school students living outside the
designated two-mile walk zone and who attend out of region
schools.
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| O. |
TRANSPORTATION
SERVICES FOR STUDENTS IN HOMELESS SITUATIONS: |
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1. |
All students with a
homeless service address within the District and attending a
District school or program will be subject to the same eligibility
distance standard as all other students attending the same school
subject to the exceptions noted in Section A
(Eligibility). |
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|
a. |
Eligible middle and
high school students will be subject to the same transportation
service modes as other middle and high school students. |
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b. |
Eligible elementary
(Grades K-5) students will be provided yellow school bus service or
taxicab service if no yellow school bus is available.
Parents/guardians of students assigned to taxicab service may
request in-lieu compensation if they choose to drive their
student(s). |
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2. |
All
students in homeless situations attending a school or program
outside of the District from an address within the District or
attending a school or program inside the District from an address
outside of the District will be provided service to the school of
origin.
The
cost for this service is to be shared with the sending or receiving
District. Since each circumstance will be unique and require some
level of agreement with participants and other Districts, the
following guidelines will be followed in each case.
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a. |
Students in middle and
high school will be assigned public transit service where feasible.
Generally feasibility will be interpreted to mean that public
transit service is available within .75 mile of the site and the
service address, one way ride time is less than 90 minutes and
transfers are 3 or less.
In situations where public transit is not feasible the most cost
effective choice of yellow school bus, taxicab service or in-lieu
compensation will be utilized. |
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|
b. |
Students in grades K-5 will be provided yellow school bus service,
taxicab service or the parent/guardian may receive in-lieu
compensation. |
