Rules & Expectations
JCSS is proud to provide top-notch transportation services for our students. Transportation is a privilege and not a right. Please read the following rules carefully.
Bus attendance
If there is no rider at a solo bus stop (i.e., where only one child/family is picked up) for THREE CONSECUTIVE MORNINGS, no stop will be made at that location UNLESS/UNTIL a parent notifies the school that a child(ren) will ride. The parent of a child who is picked up at a spot where other children gather also must notify the school that the child will be riding the bus after a bus absence of 3 or more days.
Notification by a parent to reinstate a stop also applies to afternoon riders.
Please call your child's school the day before (or, in an emergency situation, the bus department directly — 706-367-3995).
If you know in advance that you will have a break in service, you can notify the Transportation Department with the stop and re-start dates.
Expectations
Bus drivers should clearly communicate expectations and reinforce them as needed. Expectations should be based on bus rules (see below) and the JCSS Student Code of Conduct.
8 Years and Under Protocol
Children that are 8-years-old and younger will not be let off the bus unless there is a parent or guardian present and able to be seen by the driver, or unless an older sibling that rides the bus with them gets off as well. If, for some reason, the older sibling does not ride on a particular day, the parent or guardian will need to be present to receive the younger student.
Seat Assignments
Bus drivers will learn the name of each student and their stop locations. Students will be assigned seats as part of the prevention step. Assigned seating will help with: Ownership of property surrounding the student’s seat area.
- Knowing if a student is/was on board.
- Knowing who is on board for emergency purposes.
- Emergency evacuation procedures.
- Increased structure, routine, and consistency, especially during loading and unloading procedures.
Bus Rules
- Students will follow the directions of their bus driver.
- Students should be at the bus stop 5 minutes before the bus arrives, waiting in a safe place, clear of traffic and 10 feet from where the bus stops.
- Students will wait in an orderly line and avoid playing.
- Students will cross the roadway in front of the bus after the bus has stopped, they have looked at the driver for a hand signal, and they have looked in both directions for traffic; left, right, left.
- Students will signal the driver with a waving motion if something is dropped and wait for the driver to give a signal before picking up the object.
- Students will go directly to an assigned seat when entering the bus. Keep the aisles and exits clear.
- Students will remain properly seated, back against the back of the seat, bottom against the bottom of the seat, and keep hands to themselves.
- Students will not eat, drink, chew gum, or bring tobacco, alcohol, drugs, or any controlled substances on the bus.
- Students will not carry animals, glass objects, nuisance items, hazardous materials, or weapons onto the bus.
- Students may carry only objects that can be held in their laps.
- Students will refrain from using loud voices, profanity, and/or obscene gestures, and respect the rights and safety of others.
- Students will not extend head, arms, or objects out of the bus windows.
- Students will be totally silent at railroad crossings.
- Students will stay seated until time to get off the bus. The open door is the signal to get up from the bus seat.
- Students will help keep their bus clean and in a good, safe condition.
Intervention
Intervention steps are used by the bus driver to help the student stop unsafe or inappropriate behaviors or habits while assisting students to identify the appropriate habit or behavior. Intervention steps also provide notification to the parent/guardian so that the parent can be involved in assisting the driver to change unsafe or inappropriate riding habits.
Bus drivers may use the interventions listed below during the intervention step of the process. A minor offense is considered inappropriate or unsafe student behavior that may be improved with minor assistance from the driver.
- Documentation: The bus driver will maintain daily written documentation of all occurrences in the driver’s daily logbook.
- Verbal Reminder: Bus drivers will remind the student of the appropriate bus rule(s.)
- Seat Reassignment: A student’s assigned seat may be changed by the bus driver when such change may help the student to demonstrate appropriate riding behaviors and/or allow the driver to more effectively monitor that student’s behavior.
- Talk individually with student: Bus drivers will talk individually with the student to determine what steps could be taken to help the student demonstrate appropriate and safe riding behaviors
Any or all of the above steps may be bypassed when a student’s actions are illegal or judged by the driver to be or so unsafe or disrespectful that immediate corrective action is required.
Violations that should be considered major offenses include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Drugs (includes alcohol or any form of tobacco)
- Throwing objects in or out of the bus
- Fighting (trying to intentionally hurt someone)
- Weapons, dangerous instruments, and explosive/implosive devices (including lighters)
- Threats/bullying (verbal and physical threats)
- Sexual harassment
Such violations should be reported immediately to the School Administrator on a bus discipline form.
Consequences
If the student’s behavior and/or safe riding habits do not improve despite prevention and intervention, a bus discipline form is submitted by the bus driver to the school administrator. The school administrator is responsible for assigning appropriate, effective consequences for the student’s inappropriate behavior in an effort to ensure the necessary improvement.
The School Administrator will assign appropriate consequences based on a) the severity of the misbehavior and b) the number and frequency of the student’s bus referrals.
The School Administrator may tailor consequences to account for individual circumstances in each situation. The goal of assigning consequences is to bring about the desired student behavior on the school bus, and the transportation department will support any consequence that achieves that goal.