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‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
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5000.3T
SERIES 5000 C-19: STUDENTS
This policy supersedes existing policies 3541P Transportation and 3541.3
Transportation Routes.
This policy will be reevaluated by the Board of Education post-pandemic.
TRANSPORTATION
The Board of Education will provide transportation for students under provisions of
state law and regulations. In determining the provision of transportation, the
superintendent of schools shall consider the guidelines contained in this policy and shall
administer the operation so as to:
1. provide for the safety of students, including consideration of hazardous
conditions whether or not described in this policy;
2. provide for appropriate supervision for students while on school
transportation, consistent with the Board’s student discipline policy; and
3. assist disabled students by providing appropriate specialized
transportation when required by law.
II. Definitions
1. "School transportation" means the procedure, program, or implemented
plan by which a pupil is transported to and/or from school from his/her
residence or the assigned bus stop at public expense, whether by use of
publicly owned equipment or by contract. Such transportation shall be
over public roads approved and maintained by the municipality or the
state of Connecticut, or private roads approved pursuant to C.G.S.
Section 10-220c.
2. "Walking distance" means the linear measure of a prescribed or
authorized pedestrian route between the pupil's residence and his/her
school from a point at the curb or edge of a public or private road nearest
the pupil's residence to a point at the entrance of the school, or a safe
entrance to the school grounds located within one hundred feet of the
school building entrance or the bus pick-up area, or the route from the
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point on the public thoroughfare nearest the residence to the school bus
or vehicle embarkation point established by the Colchester Board of
Education.
3. "One mile walking distance" means a reasonable measurement of a route
to be traversed extending from the point of measurement at least 5,280
feet, but not more than 5,380 feet.
4. "Grade K" means kindergarten, or a school program appropriate to a
beginning pupil.
5. "Hazard" means a thing or condition, as prescribed in this policy under
"Hazardous Conditions" that affects the safety of pupils walking to or
from school and/or to or from a designated bus pick-up area.
6. "Sidewalk" means a portion of the landscape right of way approximately
three feet wide, usually parallel to the traffic lanes which may be paved
or unpaved, and marked by curbing, drainage ditch, grass area or fencing;
apart from and independent of any white line safety markings along the
street pavement.
7. "Raised walk area" means a portion of the landscape right of way
approximately three feet wide, usually parallel to the traffic lanes which
may be paved or unpaved, distinguished by some elevation above the
street pavement level and marked by curbing, drainage ditch, grass area
or fencing; apart from and independent of any painted safety markings
along the street pavement.
8. “Walking route” means the route that the student is expected to travel
between his/her residence to and from school and/or an assigned bus
stop.
9. “Bus stop” shall be defined as a geographical location designated by the
Board of Education, school administration or their designee where
students can safely wait for purposes of embarking or disembarking a
school bus.
10. "Pupil" means any individual of school age enrolled in a public or
nonprofit private school located within the school district or contiguous
school district as the case may be.
III. Provision of Transportation
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Transportation by private carrier may be provided whenever such practice is more
economical than using school district-owned/leased facilities. T he Board will request
that parents volunteer to transport eligible students, without reimbursement, in order
to reduce the number of students transported on buses to protect the health and safety
of students and staff.
In determining the provision of transportation for resident public and eligible private
school students, the following guidelines regarding walking distances will be considered.
Distance measurements will be based on the most direct route from the student's home
beginning at a point at the curb or edge of a public road or highway nearest the home to
the edge of the school property or bus pickup areas.
1. The maximum walking distance from home or daycare to a prescribed bus stop/point
of embarkation is as follows: a. For all students enrolled in K-5, driveway to driveway. b.
For all students enrolled in Grades 6-8, three tenths of a mile. c. For all students enrolled
in Grades 9-12, three tenths of a mile. 2. The maximum walking distance from home or
daycare to the nearest allowable school entrance is as follows: a. For all students
enrolled in K-5, one tenth of a mile. b. For all students enrolled in grades 6-8, three
tenths of a mile. c. Students enrolled in grades 9-12, three tenths of a mile.
Students living within the stated distance limits will receive transportation when, in the
opinion of the Superintendent of Schools, it is in the best interests of the district to
provide transportation.
IV. Access to Bus Stops/Transportation
Parents and/or guardians are responsible for ensuring the safety of their children up
until the point when students board the school bus or other school provided
transportation, and after students get off the bus after school. This responsibility
includes the selection of walking routes to/from any bus stop and/or the school
building, compliance with COVID-19 related safety precautions at the bus stop and along
walking routes, and the provision of supervision that is appropriate to the student’s age,
maturity and conditions along the walking route and/or at the bus stop at all times.
Given that bus pick up times may vary, the Board expects that parents and/or guardians
will ensure that their children arrive at the bus stop in advance of any scheduled pick up
time. Bus pick up/drop off times and routes may change during the school year in
connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and changing public health conditions. The
Board will notify all parents and guardians in advance of such changes.
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V. Hazardous Conditions
The administration shall consider the following guidelines for hazardous conditions
when making decisions regarding the transportation of children:
1. Except as provided in Paragraph 7 of this Section, a street or road, along a
designated walking route to or from school and/or to or from a
designated bus pick-up area, having an adjacent or parallel sidewalk or
raised walk area shall be deemed hazardous when any one of the
following conditions exist:
a) For pupils under age ten, or enrolled in grades K through 3:
(i) the absence of a pedestrian crossing light or crossing
guard where three or more streets intersect, and a pupil is
expected to cross the street; OR
(ii) street crossings where there are no stop signs or crossing
guards and the traffic count during the time that pupils are
walking to or from school exceeds sixty vehicles per hour
at the intersection, and a pupil is expected to cross the
street.
b) For pupils over age ten, or enrolled in grades 4 through 12, the
absence of a traffic light or stop signs or crossing guard at an intersection
where three or more streets intersect which has a traffic count which
exceeds ninety vehicles per hour during the time that pupils are walking
to or from school, and such pupils are expected to cross the street;
c) For all pupils:
(i) any street, road, or highway with speed limits in excess of
forty miles per hour which does not have pedestrian
crossing lights or crossing guards or other safety provisions
at points where pupils must cross when going to or from
school or the bus stop; OR
(ii) the usual or frequent presence of any nuisance such as
open man-holes, construction, snow plowed or piled on
the walk area making walkways unusable, loading zones
where delivery trucks are permitted to park on walkways,
commercial entrances and exits where cars are crossing
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walking areas at speeds in excess of five miles per hour,
and the like, including such nuisances which are hazardous
or attractive to children.
2. Any street, road, or highway, along a designated walking route to or from
school and/or to or from a designated bus pick-up area, that has no
sidewalks or raised walk areas shall be deemed hazardous if any one of
the following conditions exist:
a) For pupils under age ten, or enrolled in grade K through 3:
(i) any street, road, or highway possessing a traffic count of
sixty or more vehicles per hour at the time that pupils are
walking to or from school; OR
(ii) any street, road, or highway possessing a speed limit in
excess of thirty miles per hour.
b) For all pupils:
(i) the presence of man-made hazards including attractive
nuisances, as stated in 1(c)(ii) above; OR
(ii) any roadway available to vehicles that does not have a
minimum width of approximately twenty-two feet; OR
(iii) any roadway available to vehicles that, when plowed free of
snow accumulations, does not have a minimum width of
approximately twenty feet; OR
(iv) any street, road, or highway where the line-of-sight
visibility together with posted speed limits do not permit
vehicular braking/stopping in accordance with the
Connecticut Drivers Manual or Department of
Transportation, Division of Design Standard, or other
reasonable standard.
3. Any walkway, path, or bridge, along a designated walking route to or
from school and/or to or from a designated bus pick-up area, in an area
adjacent or parallel to railroad tracks shall be considered hazardous
unless a suitable physical barrier along the entire pedestrian route is
present and fixed between pupils and the track; and any crossing of
railroad tracks carrying moving trains during hours that pupils are walking
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to or from school or to and from a designated bus pick-up area shall be
deemed hazardous unless:
a) a crossing guard is present; OR
b) for pupil under age ten, an automatic control bar is present at
crossings; OR
c) for pupils over age ten, a bar or red flashing signal light is
operational.
4. For pupils in grades K through 4, the following conditions shall be
deemed hazardous:
a) a lake, pond, stream, culvert, water-way, or bridge shall be
deemed a hazard in the absence of a fence or other suitable
barrier fixed between the pupil and the water; OR
b) any area adjacent to a roadway, sidewalk, or bridge, along a
designated walking route to or from school and/or to or from a
designated bus pick-up area, having a drop of three or more feet
per four feet of travel length on either side of the established
lanes, in the absence of a fence or other suitable barrier.
5. For pupils in grades K through 8, walking to or from school or the bus
stop at any time prior to one-half hour before sunrise or any time
one-half hour after sunset shall be deemed hazardous.
6. For all students, walking along any street, road, walkway, sidewalk, or
path designated as a walking route which passes through an area which
has a history of aggressive acts of molestation resulting in actual or
threatened physical harm or moral degradation during the hours when
pupils ordinarily walk to or from school shall be deemed hazardous.
7. It shall not be a “hazard” or “hazardous condition” for a pupil whose
residence abuts a public street, road or highway to (1) wait for the bus on
the private property where the pupil resides for the school bus, until the
school bus’s flashing red lights are activated to stop traffic so that the
student can enter onto or cross the public street, road or highway to get
on a school bus; or (2) exit a school bus that is stopped on the public
street, road or highway, when the bus’s flashing red lights are activated
TRANSPORTATION Page 6 of 8
to stop traffic so that the pupil can enter onto or cross such street, road
or highway to access the private property where the pupil resides.
VI. Applicability and Exceptions
1. This policy is applicable to public roads approved and maintained by the
municipality or state of Connecticut, or private roads approved for
passage of school transportation vehicles in accordance with C.G.S.
Section 10-220c.
2. Special Education pupils and pupils eligible for accommodations under
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act shall be judged on an individual
basis, and appropriate transportation provided.
3. The Superintendent of Schools may grant an exception to any guideline
set forth in this policy where a peculiar condition or combination or
conditions renders such condition(s) a hazard based upon reasonable
judgment; or where under the circumstances, other conditions exist
under which the safety of students necessitates a variance with the
guidelines within this policy.
VII. Complaint Procedure
All complaints concerning school transportation safety shall be made in writing to the
Superintendent of Schools or designee. The Superintendent or designee shall maintain
a written record of all such complaints, and shall conduct appropriate investigations of
the allegations in a timely manner. The investigation shall include 1) the review of the
complaint raised with appropriate personnel responsible for transportation of students
and 2) the opportunity for the parent or other person making the complaint to meet
with the Superintendent to discuss the complaint and any possible resolution thereof. If
a complaint covered by Section 10-186 of the Connecticut General Statutes, and is not
resolved by the Superintendent, the Superintendent shall inform parent or guardian, or
an emancipated minor or a pupil eighteen years of age or older, of his or her right to
request a hearing regarding the complaint. Such hearing, if requested, shall be held in
accordance with Section 10-186 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as it may be
amended from time to time.
Legal Reference: Connecticut General Statutes
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10-186 Duties of local and regional boards of education re: school
attendance. Hearings. Appeals to state board. Establishment
of hearing board. Readmission. Transfers.
10-187 Appeal from finding of hearing board.
10-220 Duties of boards of
education.
10-220c Transportation of
children over private roads.
Immunity from Liability.
10-221c Development of policy for reporting complaints regarding
school transportation safety.
10-273a Reimbursement for transportation to and from elementary
and secondary schools.
10-280a Transportation for students in non-profit private schools
outside school district.
10-281 Transportation for pupils in nonprofit private schools within
school district.
14-275 Equipment and color of school buses.
14-275b Transportation of
mobility impaired students.
14-275c Regulations re: school buses and motor vehicles used to
transport special education students.
TEMPORARY POLICY ADOPTED: August 17, 2020
COLCHESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Colchester, Connecticut
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