Eligibility:
High
Schools - 2.5 miles for all students attending high
school.
Exceptions
are allowed in the following areas:
- Students
residing in designated safety areas.
- 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 Profile
(I.E.P.)
- Students
requiring medical transportation as approved by the District Health
Services.
- Students
assigned to the Bilingual Orientation at Old Hay will be provided
transportation if they reside outside 2.0 miles from Old
Hay.
Middle
Schools - 2.0 miles for all students attending middle school.
Eceptions
are allowed in the following areas:
- Students
residing in designated safety areas.
- 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 Profile
(I.E.P).
- Students
requiring medical transportation as approved by the District Health
Services.
Elementary
Schools - 1.0 mile for all students assigned within choice or
cluster.
Exceptions
are allowed in the following areas:
- Students
residing in designated safety areas.
- 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 Profile
(I.E.P.)
- Students
requiring medical transportation as approved by the District Health
Services.
Bus Stop Location:
Assignment
Criteria: Students will be assigned to neighborhood bus stops
within the following guidelines:
- Bus stops
will be located on arterial or primary access residential streets
only.
- Walking
distance to bus stops will be 10 blocks or less for middle/high
school students where feasible.
- Walking
distance to bus stops will be 7 blocks 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.
Bus Stop Modification:
- Once
established, bus stops will be modified only under the following
conditions:
- Safety
concern-conditions at the established bus stop do not meet the bus
stop selection criteria as defined by the District
guidelines.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
One-Way Ride Time:
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.)
Seating on Buses:
The basic
seating guideline for the District is: for students from
Kindergarten through grade 5, three students to a standard (30 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/charted buses.
Before School and
After School Activity Buses:
Transportation for
before school and after school activity programs will be provided
to secondary students eligible for District transportation, as
outlined under Section A, in accordance to the following
conditions:
Each middle
school has the opportunity to request charter bus service for
students participating in after school activities under the
following conditions.
- There must
be a minimum of twenty (20) students in a common service
area.
- Schools may
request only one special pick up time (an early run and a late run
will not be provided).
- Tokens will
be provided when charter bus service is not provided or
feasible.
- Time
requested does not conflict with regular to and from
service.
High school
students eligible for District transportation, as outlined under
the Eligibility Section will be provided Metro tokens.
Start/Dismissal Time
Schedule:
High
Schools....................................... 7:45 AM to 2:15
PM
Middle
Schools................................... 7:45 AM to 2:15
PM
Elementary
Schools............................. 9:10 AM to 3:10 PM (with
individual exceptions to accommodate shared school bus
service)
Head Start-AM
Session..................... 8:00 AM to 11:45 PM
(Mon,Tue,Wed,Thur)
Head Start-PM
Session...................... 1:00 PM to 4:45 PM (Mon, Tue, Wed,
Thur)
These bell
times are set to minimize transportation cost. Individual schools
may request a waiver from these times provided that the requesting
school funds any additional transportation cost.
Alternate
Transportation Service Address:
The choice
address will be the transportation service address. Alternate
service addresses will be considered for feasibility for the
following situations:
- Child
care
- Supervision
- Work
(student employment)
- After School
Activity
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 pass 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.
Change of Residence
Address During the School Year
Charter
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. Passes or tokens may be authorized to
secondary students when charter service is not available. Any
authorization to continue will be limited to the current school
year only.
Out of District
Transfers:
Students
approved through the Enrollment Services Office to attend a Seattle
public School from an out of District address may be authorized
District provided transportation under the following
condition:
High
School and Middle School Students may utilize existing bus
stops and routes serving their school of assignmeent. It will be
their responsibility to get to and from this existing
service.
Elementary
Students:
- The
parent/guardian must provide the District with an alternate or day
care address to which they will transport the student and a contact
person.
- The
alternate or day care address provided must be within the Seattle
School District, outside the transportation eligibility boundary
for the assigned school and within choice or cluster.
- The
parent/guardian is responsible for transporting the student to this
alternative or day care address.
Space Available
Transportation:
The provision
of space available transportation will be allowed under the
following conditions:
- The granting
of space available will be at the discretion of the Transportation
Review Board only.
- Space
available will be an option the Review Board may consider when
determining an appeal. The following conditions must be
present:
- Existing
stops must be used.
- Access to
the stop must be within District assignment criteria
- 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
1, 2000.
- 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.
- 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.
Appeals:
Reference 2003-2004 Guidelines and Procedures for Student
Assignment
Minimum Ridership
Standard for High Schools
Charter 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. Determination will be made based on student
assignment data available to the Transportation Office on July 1.
If actual ridership drops below the minimum in the 2003-2004 school
year, this service may be rescinded after the following actions
have occurred:
- School
administrator is notified.
- Students/parents are
notified.
Service
modifications will be scheduled to occur at semester break
only.
Midday Kindergarten
Service
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.
Use of Metro for Transporting Middle and High
School Students
Transportation staff
will explore options for transporting middle and high school
students using Metro service.
Yellow Bus Service for
Middle School Students
Yellow school
bus service will be provided for middle school students eligible
for transportation who are assigned to the following:
- A regional
reference area school.
- A designated
out of region school for which they are integration
positive.
- A designated
out of region school for southeast region students.
- An eligible
non-traditional graded school K-8. In these situations the yellow
bus service will be determined based upon the K-5 draw
area.
- Washington
Middle School Spectrum Program from the southwest region through
school year 2003-2004.
- Salmon Bay
6-8 graders residing in Queen Anne/Magnolia, Central, South,
Southeast, West Seattle South and West Seattle North
clusters.
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.
Transportation
Services for Students in Homeless Situations:
- 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).
- Eligible
middle and high school students will be subject to the same
transportation service modes as other middle and high
students.
- 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).
- 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 or
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.
- 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 10 blocks 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 service is not feasible the most cost
effective choice of yellow school bus service, taxicab service or
in-lieu compensation will be utilized.
- Students in
grades K-5 will be provided yellow school bus service, taxicab
service or the parent/guardian will receive in-lieu
compensation.
