Essential School Bus Tips!
(Bloomfield Hills Schools, Aug. 29, 2014)
Over the summer, we asked our bus drivers to tell us what they wish children and parents would know, prior to the start of the school year. They gave us the following tips:
~The bus is not recess time.
~Students and parents should wait for the bus to come to a complete stop. You will know it is safe to approach the bus when the stop sign has been extended and the doors are open. Do not run toward the bus.
~Students should remain seated on the bus until it comes to a complete stop at the school or at their bus stop. Standing up while the bus is moving can create a very dangerous situation for both themselves and other students.
~Please talk with your child about proper bus behavior. Students should keep their hands to themselves and should not tease or bully other students. Bullying will not be tolerated, but the bus driver cannot hear and see everything happening on the bus. Please encourage your child to talk to an adult if they feel bullied on the bus or have witnessed bullying on the bus. Drivers can and will write misconduct reports, which are sent to the school principal.
~Please be patient with your child’s bus driver and with the transportation department. Typically, it is not until October that all routes are running smoothly and on time. During the first few days and weeks, school staff will hold buses at the school to ensure all students are on the bus and where they need to be. You can help by teaching your child which bus they ride and talking to them about being on time for the bus departure from school.
~Especially in inclement weather, buses may run late. Please follow the transportation department on twitter for late bus notifications: www.twitter.com/BHSBuses or @BHSBuses in the Bloomfield Hills District.. If you’re in other districts please check ahead of time to know where to find this information.
~If your child is riding the bus for the first time or is nervous about riding the bus, please help to reassure them. Children pick up from parent worries, too. If you are concerned about your child riding the bus, please know that we have highly trained drivers and our mechanics have earned over 20 years of perfect bus inspections. We take student transportation very seriously and safety is our number one priority.
For more information on Bloomfield Hills Schools, see http://www.bloomfield.org.