Early dismissal schedules are used primarily for parent/teacher conferences.  High School/Middle School students dismiss at 11:30am and elementary students at 12:50pm.  Parents should estimate the drop off time for students by establishing the length of time it normally takes for students to arrive at their stop location and apply this time duration to the appropriate dismissal time for their school. 

EXAMPLE:  Star Student attending Liberty Bell elementary school normally arrives at the drop off location of 4th/Cherry at 4:00pm.  The bus usually leaves Liberty Bell at 3:45pm.  It takes Star approximately 15 minutes to arrive at the scheduled stop.  On early dismissal days the drop off time would be approximately 1:15pm when the bus leaves the school at 1:00pm.

During conference week the AM and PM classes attend school in the morning only.  The first week of conferences, usually in November, the PM kindergarten students attend class Monday through Wednesday and AM kindergarten students attend Thursday and Friday (NOTE: This is a change from last year).  This reverses for the Spring conference week and allows for both AM and PM kindergarten students to have an equal number of classes throughout the school year.  Kindergarten students ride home with Grades 1 through 5 via the early dismissal schedules summarized in the above example.

Parents of kindergarten students will receive early dismissal schedules detailing bus number and pickup/drop off times through their home school.  If parents require a different pickup/drop off location for their child during conference week they should notify their home school with the desired location(s). 

Drop off times for early dismissals due to bad weather are more difficult to estimate.  The same time estimation method for drop off times during conferences is used with an appreciation for how inclement weather conditions impact bus travel.

The decision to close or delay school requires a coordinated effort between First Student, the Transportation Director, the Superintendent and surrounding school districts.  When bad weather is forecasted, the supervisors for First Student are out surveying road conditions throughout the district.  Based on these first hand observations of road conditions a recommendation is made to the school district to delay and/or close school.  District administrators make this decision by reviewing the recommendation made by First Student, the forecasted weather conditions as well as actions taken by surrounding school districts.  These determinations are made by approximately 5am.   Notification to local radio and television stations are reported to alert the district residents.  Parents should tune in to local radio and television stations for school delay/closure status and related announcements.

• 1-HOUR DELAY:  Pickup time is calculated by using the student’s normal pickup time and adding 1 hour.  (i.e. Normal pickup time is 8:15am; 1-hour delay time is 9:15am.)
• 2-HOUR DELAY:  Pickup time is calculated by using the student’s normal pickup time and adding 2 hours.  (i.e. Normal pickup time is 8:15am; 2-hour delay time is 10:15am.)

MODIFIED KINDERGARTEN:  Occurs during a 2-hour delay of school. 

HOURS: 

• AM - 11:00am – 12:35pm
• PM - 1:55 pm – 3:30pm

AM:  Pickup time is calculated by using the student’s normal pickup time and adding approximately 2 hours (i.e.; if pickup time is 8:15 a.m., on a 2-hour delay day the pickup time would be 10:15 a.m.).   Drop off time is 1 hour later than normal drop off time.

PM:  Pickup time is calculated by using the student’s normal pickup time and adding approximately 1 hour (i.e.; if the pickup time is 1:15 p.m., on a 2-hour delay day the pickup time would be 2:15 p.m.).   Drop off time is in accordance with the regular daily schedule.

Inclement weather brings many challenges to our transportation services.  Please note the following situations that may affect your student’s transportation arrangements:

• For school delays / closure status & related announcements, please tune into local television & radio stations, or the posting on the district’s website (www.slsd.org). 

• All non-public students should follow the Southern Lehigh School Districts delay/closure information as it relates to transportation provided for all residents of our district. 

• For early dismissals, all non-public schools (elementary and secondary) should follow the SLSD secondary dismissal time.  We will notify each individual non-public school as to the time we will pick-up their students for early dismissal.

• If SLSD is on a delay (1 or 2 hour), transportation will be provided to your student on the same hour delay, regardless of your school’s schedule.

• Likewise, if we do not have a delay and your school does, we will provide transportation according to SLSD’s normal schedule.  Transportation cannot be provided to accommodate various delayed start times.

• If SLSD is closed for the day due to inclement weather and your school is open, transportation will not be provided for the entire day (AM or PM) because it has been determined to be unsafe to travel on district roads.