Transportation

• You may be offered transportation for your child to the site/classroom, however, transportation is not guaranteed.
• First priority is given to families who have children that need to be picked up or dropped off at child care and/or live more than 1 mile from the classroom site.
• In order to receive transportation families must live within the route area.
• Transportation services are not door-to-door.
  
  

Note: The health and safety of students and transportation staff are of paramount importance. Students and staff are required to wear face masks/coverings, use hand sanitizer, conduct a daily health screener, and practice physical distancing when possible. Buses are disinfected between each route.

Family Responsibilities

• Families will treat staff in a courteous and respectful manner.
• Families will be at the bus stop 10 minutes before the bus is due to be at the stop.  The bus driver will wait 3 minutes at a stop. 
• If there is no one at the stop to get the child off the bus, the child will be returned to the school if the drop off is in the mid-day, or the transportation office at the end of the day.
• Transportation will attempt to contact families if the child has to be returned to the school or to the transportation office.
• Keep Child Information Card (CIC) updated, especially phone numbers and emergency contact information. Children will only be released to an authorized person listed on the Child’s CIC and presents photo ID.  Contact your classroom teacher and transportation if you need to make a change to your information.
• Children being picked up from child care must dressed and ready to board the bus when it arrives.  Families should communicate this expectation to their child care provider.
• Child care providers will remain present while the child is boarding and exiting the bus.
• An authorized person will remain with the child at the stop and escort their child to and from the bus.
• Families will contact transportation if their child will not be riding the bus at (269) 250-9861.
• If the child is not at a stop for three consecutive days without contacting transportation, bus services will be suspended until transportation is notified.
• Allow transportation up to two weeks to make a transportation change.
• Families should understand that for the first couple of weeks the routes may not run on time.

Program Responsibilities

• Head Start and transportation staff will treat families in a courteous and respectful manner.
• Children will be kept safe.
• Children will only be released to authorized people listed on the Child Information Card.
• Buses will do their best to be on time. If the buses are more than 10 minutes late, transportation will make every attempt to contact families.
• The program will try to accommodate transportation requests as long as time permits, and the change is within the transportation route.
• Bus drivers will wait 3 minutes at a stop before moving on to the next stop.