SafeSchools AlertTransportation
Transportation Office: (804) 556-5361. Fax: (804) 784-5146, Monday-Friday 6 AM – 5 PM.
Our Transportation Department is an integral part of the GCPS mission to maximize the potential of every learner. In many cases, our drivers are the first point of school contact for students as they begin their school day. While our immediate charge is to transport students safely and efficiently, at the heart of our mission is a desire to establish lasting, positive relationships with and among our student riders.
Bus Stop Policy
Your child should arrive at the bus stop at least 5 minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive. Students are required to enter and exit the bus at their assigned bus stop. Parents are encourage to sign up for our “Viafy Parent App” to track the bus live. For more information please contact our office.
The Transportation Department reserves the right to remove, add or change bus stops. All students who are affected by any changes will be notified in advance.
Bus Safety
In the interest of the safety and welfare of school passengers, GCPS maintains strict transportation discipline and safety regulations. Rules and procedures are established to ensure a safe, enjoyable experience for students on the bus. Students who violate those rules or whose behavior could be detrimental to others’ safety or the safe operation of the bus may have riding privileges suspended or revoked. These are our updated rules for 2020.
- Arrive at the bus stop 5 minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive.
- Wait quietly and as far away from the road as possible.
- Do not approach the bus until it comes to a complete stop. If you must cross look both ways and wait for the driver’s signal to board the bus.
- Students should use the handrail when entering and exiting the bus.
- Students should move directly to a seat, sit facing the front, and hold belongings in their lap. Students will remain seated when the bus is in motion.
- Students should keep the aisle clear. No student shall at any time extend his/her head, hands, arms, or throw any objects out of the windows of the bus.
- Students will speak quietly and talk to the driver only in emergencies.
- Use emergency doors and windows only in emergencies or during official practices.
- If you drop anything outside the bus, leave it. Get permission from your driver before picking it up.
- The danger zone is the area on all sides of the bus where children are in the most danger of not being seen by the driver (ten feet in front of the bus where the driver may be too high to see a child, ten feet on either side of the bus, where a child may be in the driver’s blind spot, and the area behind the school bus).
- An adult must be present at the bus stop in order for children in grades Prek-3rd to be discharged from the bus or the child will be returned to school.
Conduct on Buses
Students are expected to conduct themselves on the bus in a manner consistent with established standards for classroom behavior. The school principal may suspend or revoke the riding privileges of students and/or take other disciplinary actions for students who are disciplinary problems on the bus. Parents (or guardians) of children whose behavior and misconduct on school buses violates the Student Code of Conduct or otherwise endangers the health, safety and welfare of other riders shall be notified that their child/children face the loss of school sponsored transportation riding privileges and/or other disciplinary actions.
If a student’s riding privileges are suspended or revoked, the student’s parents are responsible for seeing that the student gets to and from school safely.
The bus driver is responsible for maintaining the orderly behavior of students on school buses and shall report misconduct to the student’s principal and provide a copy of the report to the transportation office.
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