District 54’s Transportation Services Department works in conjunction with school personnel, First Student and parents to provide a safe and efficient service.
Safety Precautions during Pandemic
- All parents/guardians must check their child’s temperature and complete the D54 Screening App each morning before sending their child to the bus stop. (Paper copies will be available for families who cannot access the app.)
- Children should remain at home if they have any symptoms or answered yes to any of the questions on the self screener.
- Students MUST present their bus pass and green D54 Self Screener card (mailed to houses with bus passes) indicating that the screener was completed.
- Students will receive a luggage tag from their teachers on the first day in the classroom. Please place the screener card and bus pass in the luggage tag and attach it to their backpack.
- Students must be at their stop at least 5 minutes before the scheduled pick-up time to maintain a safe and timely arrival at school. If other children are at the bus stop, please ensure that your child’s facemask is on and children are in line at a safe distance from each other.
- The bus driver or a bus aide will instruct students to enter the bus one at a time. Seats will be assigned on the bus, with one person per seat. Siblings may sit together.
- Students will board and fill seats from the back to the front of the bus to minimize the number of students crossing paths with each other. At school, students will be dismissed from the bus by school staff. Students will exit the bus from the front to the back for the same purpose.
- Facemasks are required.
- Buses are disinfected twice daily and windows will remain open on days when the weather allows.
Routes and Stops
School bus routes and stops are determined by District 54’s Transportation Services Department on the basis of safety, efficiency and student ridership. Bus routes, stops or times may be altered by District 54’s Transportation Services Department if ridership changes during the school year. Scheduled bus route stop times are set as a general guide.
Students are expected to ride to and from school on their assigned buses. Students may only get on and off the bus at their assigned stops. It is the district’s long-standing practice that a child must have consistent pick-up and drop-off points to ensure student safety. Parents or guardians must notify the school in writing if permission is given for a student to walk, rather than ride, to and from school.
District 54 will provide free bus transportation for students in kindergarten through eighth grade who attend their base school, an open enrollment school or a magnet school and live 1.5 miles or more from the school they attend or live within an area that the Illinois Department of Transportation has determined to be a safety hazard (such as if students would have to cross a busy road).
Prohibited Items and Use
Only items, including musical instruments, that fit on the student’s lap will be permitted on the bus. No sports equipment, such as balls and skateboards, are allowed on the bus. The use of laser pointers, cell phones and electronic devices is prohibited on the bus.
Students on Crutches
If your child rides the bus to school and is on crutches, please contact your child’s school nurse. The nurse will provide you with Request for Medical Busing forms. Parents/guardians and physicians must complete these forms before a child on crutches will be allowed to ride the bus. Once the nurse receives the forms and if the doctor indicates a student can climb stairs, arrangements will be made for a representative from First Student to observe the child’s ability to safely navigate the stairs of the bus. The nurse will notify parents of the outcome of the observation.
Recordings on Buses
Electronic visual and audio recordings may be used on school buses as necessary to monitor conduct and to promote and maintain a safe environment for students and employees when transportation is provided for any school-related activity. Any electronic recording of the interior of a school bus when the bus is transporting students to and from school and school-sponsored activities is exempt from the Eavesdropping Act and is not a school student record under the Illinois School Student Records Act. Pursuant to Illinois law, such recordings are nonetheless confidential records and may only be used by school officials (or their designees) and law enforcement personnel for investigations, school disciplinary actions and hearings, proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, and criminal prosecutions, related to incidents occurring in or around the school bus.
