Who determines the walk distance? Each School Board sets its own walk distance.
Walk distances vary based on grade and whether
it is an urban or rural setting. For more
information regarding the schools walk distance,
go to the Board website or contact the Board.
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What is a “primary address”?
This is the primary residential address on file with
the school for your student. Transportation
eligibility is based on this address. Your child can
only have one primary address. > Back to top
What is an “attendance boundary”? Each School Board sets an attendance boundary
for the school. Children who reside within the
attendance boundary are entitled to attend that
school. Your local school can provide information
on their respective attendance boundary.
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What is a “transportation boundary”? A transportation boundary is set by the School
Board to designate the area within the school
attendance boundary outside of the walk
distance whereby children attending the school
qualify for Board-provided transportation.
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I am moving. Who do I need to notify? Contact the school and register your child, or, if
the school remains unchanged, provide the new
address information to the existing school.
Student Transportation Services arranges
transportation based on the information provided
by the school and does not take change of
address information from the parent/guardian over the phone for security reasons.
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How long does it take for transportation
arrangements to come into effect? It typically takes 5 business days to organize
transportation arrangements once Student
Transportation Services receives the information from
the school.
Routes are prepared prior to the start of the school
year. Because route arrangements have already been
completed, altering arrangements requires
communication between the bus company and STS and
may impact other children already scheduled on the
vehicle. In light of the above, and due to the volume of
requests, during the month of September, it can take up
to 15 business days. You will be contacted with the
new arrangements once finalized. > Back to top
Why can transportation not alternate between
two addresses on different days? Board policies do not provide for
this service for safety and security reasons. > Back to top
I need my child dropped off at another address. What do I need to do? Transportation to an alternate address can be
arranged if the following conditions are met:
The primary address is eligible for
transportation.
The alternate address is within the school
transportation boundary.
The alternate address is used consistently
every day, Monday through Friday, every
week for the school year.
No new stops or runs will be created for
alternate addresses. The child will be
required to use the closest existing stop.
Complete the request form available at
the school. The school will send it to
Student Transportation Services for
consideration and approval.
The school will contact you with the
new arrangements once finalized.
My child goes to a babysitter and the babysitter
address is eligible for transportation. Can my
child get on the bus at the babysitters? The following conditions have to be met:
The primary address must be eligible for
transportation.
The babysitters address must be within
the school transportation boundary.
The babysitters address can then be
considered and must meet the
conditions for an alternate address. (The alternate address is
used consistently every day, Monday through
Friday, every week for the school year with no
new stops or runs created)
How can a licensed day care facility have a bus
stop created? Upon request received from the day care facility,
Student Transportation Services will review the
location and the day care facility may qualify for
a designated stop if the following conditions are
met:
Only eligible students can use the stop.
If the child is not eligible for
transportation at their primary residence,
the child can not use the bus.
The day care must be located within the attendance boundary and transportation
boundary for the school.
The day care must be located on or near
an existing run. No new runs will be
created to add service for a day care
facility.
Can my child get on and get off at a different
addresses on the same day? The following conditions have to be met:
The primary address must be eligible for
transportation.
Complete the request form available at
the school. The school will send it to
Student Transportation Services for
consideration and approval, noting the
conditions for an alternate address must
be met.(The alternate
address is used consistently every day, Monday
through Friday, every week for the school year
with no new stops or runs created)
Why can’t my child eat on the bus? Children can not eat on the bus because it is a
shared environment and due to the potential for
severe allergic reactions of other students.
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How do I arrange temporary transportation? Temporary transportation is not offered for construction
areas, broken bones, short-term stays at other
residences, birthday parties, lessons etc. > Back to top
Why are there no seatbelts on buses? After considerable crash testing, Transport Canada
determined that seatbelts might actually cause more
harm to students on school buses. Tests revealed that occupants who were wearing lap belts were more likely
to suffer serious head and neck injuries. Also, shoulder
belts can not be adjusted to safely restrain smaller
children. If seatbelts were on school buses, younger
children would require an adult to buckle/unbuckle the
occupant and this could be problematic in an
emergency situation. For more information on this
topic, check out the Ministry of Transportation website. > Back to top
I do not think the bus stop location is safe.
What can I do? Contact STS. The stop location will be reviewed by a Transportation Specialist and a decision made, which may or may not result in the stop being changed.
The types of concerns typically raised by parents are no sidewalks, traffic speed, no posted school zone signs, no cross walks, no crossing guards, no railroad crossing signs and/or construction. These potential concerns are under the jurisdiction of the municipality and STS may not consider these types of situations as safety concerns in and of themselves.
Due to the volume of requests for stop location reviews received in September, these will be reviewed in October. > Back to top
How does Student Transportation Services select a
bus stop location? Many factors are considered when selecting a bus
stop location. Student Transportation Services is
responsible for selecting stop location and
considers road & traffic conditions, size of the bus and overall safety. Community stops are
selected whenever possible, meaning accessible to
more than one student. In a rural environment,
the bus will pick up close to the residence, but is
not required to stop directly at the residence. > Back to top
My child left their backpack on the bus. Who do I
contact? Contact the bus company for lost items. Be ready to
provide the school and run number to the bus
company.
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Can I make special arrangements directly with the
bus driver? No. The bus driver is an employee of the bus
company and the bus company is under contract
with Student Transportation Services. Student
Transportation Services does not permit the bus
driver or bus company to make, alter or amend the
service provided.
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We have a concern with the bus driver. Who do we
contact to remedy this situation? Contact the school principal and/or bus company to
discuss your concerns. If you are unable to resolve
the situation with the school principal and/or the
bus company, contact Student Transportation
Services. > Back to top
