General Information And Policies

For a point of reference, PA State Law states that transportation is not required to be provided if you live within 2 miles of your assigned school building if you are a secondary student (grades 7-12) or if you live within 1 ½ miles of your school building if you are an elementary student (grades K-6). Additionally, it is acceptable by state standards if students walk up to 1 ½ or 1 mile respectively to their assigned bus stop. Another point of interest is that a 1 ½ hour bus ride is deemed an acceptable amount of time for elementary students.

We are proud that in this district distances to respective bus stops are measured in feet rather than miles. Wherever geography allows, we try to create bus stops near areas of high student concentrations on our routing network. The parameters or guidelines for stop locations are 500 yards for students from homes of record. If anyone, at any time, has a safety concern about any bus stop, please feel free to contact us and we will come out to evaluate the stop.

ALL STUDENTS SHOULD BE AT SCHEDULED BUS STOPS AT LEAST FIVE (5) MINUTES BEFORE THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED TIME. Bus drivers are instructed not to wait at stops for students who are not waiting at the appropriate bus stops. Our goals are to have students wait at safety-approved bus stops for no longer than ten minutes, and we try to keep students on any series of bus rides including transfers for no longer than 90 minutes. Of course, most are less than 45 minutes including longer midday kindergarten runs.

**For more information on inclement weather days at stops, emergencies, and what to do when a bus doesn’t show up at the regularly scheduled time, please refer to your students’ school handbook.

The Handbook for School Bus Drivers - A summary of Rules and Regulations for Efficient and Safe School Bus Operation, states in part: "...sport bags, backpacks, band instruments or any school project shall not be placed in aisles or areas near entrance doors. Items of this nature must not be allowed on the bus unless they can be held in pupil's lap without endangering the safety of other pupils."

There are many students that reside in the district that are involved with split custody situations and we understand the complications associated with shared custody arrangements.  In these cases, when both parents reside in the District, we will provide two different stops for those students. This will be the only exception for assigning multiple stops for a student. 

Furthermore, it is the policy of the district that we have not and will not provide multiple busing assignments for any student.(exception being joint/split custody agreements).  It would be logistically impossible for this district to offer a service such as you are requesting to all students in the district.  We will fulfill our obligation to provide transportation by assigning busing based on the registered home of record for your children.  We would be glad to consider any preferences that you may have as long as the request is reasonable and will not have a negative impact on established routes and/or stops.

Students will not be permitted to board or leave a bus on any stop other  than their assigned stop at random.  If it is more convenient for a student to utilize a different stop than provided by the transportation department, the parent or guardian must contact the school in order to process a request for an alternate PERMANENT stop location.

SLSD will try to accommodate every reasonable request that is made.  However, we cannot accommodate stop requests that detract from the overall efficiency of the system that is implemented.  We will not grant requests for specific stops simply because "the bus goes by my house.'  Common bus stops are a necessity for a successful transportation system regardless of their route to a series of locations.  Also, there are simply some roads where we cannot physically drive a bus including roads that are not complete and many cul-de-sac roads where a turn-around would be required.

There are many considerations that affect decisions.  We are confident that every parent fully understands that it is our duty to provide reasonable transportation in accordance with school district policy, applicable laws and regulations.  To that end, we must make decisions that provide the highest level of quality, and most amount of safety for ALL students while working within these parameters.

Please note that any requested changes may take up to two to four days to implement unless otherwise directed by the transportation department.

All kindergarten students are assigned to a kindergarten class based on class size, location of home, and number of classes that are available at each elementary school. After these considerations are in place, each individual preference or request for building or session is reviewed to determine if that particular request can be accommodated. This includes any information provide on daycare arrangements. Transportation is planned in consideration of all above mentioned constraints and requests. It is possible that a student may be scheduled to a kindergarten class at one particular school but then may go to a different elementary school for the remainder of their 1-3 education. This is done in order to keep class sizes as small as possible so each kindergartener is given a higher level of personal attention. Some requests cannot be accommodated based on these facts and SLSD will not and cannot sacrifice quality of education for convenience.

AM session kindergarteners will ride to school on regular elementary buses from regular elementary stops. Likewise, PM session kindergarteners will return home from school on regular elementary buses to regular elementary stops. During the mid-day period where AM kindergarteners are dropped off and PM kindergarteners are picked up, SLSD will provide door-to-door service where it is possible. (Please remember that we must still plan this transportation in consideration of the constraints cited in the ‘Specific Stop Requests’ portion of this information) This in turn may create runs that take a little longer than they normally would, but it is the small cost of service from your home when they are the only ones on a bus.

The parent or legal guardian must accompany all kindergarten students both to and from their bus stops. If another person is to be granted permission to either drop off or pick up the kindergartener, an express written letter to the transportation department must be furnished before the student will be left with that person. Each bus driver will be provided a copy of that correspondence.

NOTE: If nobody is present to receive the kindergartener, or someone is there who doesn’t have permission to receive the kindergartener, the driver will try to have dispatch and the transportation department contact the parent while the student remains on board and the driver completes the route. If the parent is reached, the student will be taken home upon the completion of the route. If the attempt is unsuccessful, the student will be brought back to the school building where they will be supervised until the parents are contacted to pick the student up. Please be at the stop 10 minutes prior to the regularly scheduled time.

Each school year the district staff considers both enrollment and geography in making this decision. It is our goal to balance kindergarten class sizes across the district, but we must also look at the feasibility of transporting your child from the location that you designate.

Approximately 80% of parents request AM Kindergarten. It is not possible to place 80% of the Kindergarten children in AM. The district cannot judge the merits of one parental request against another.

There are instances where medical conditions require sleep. The district will comply with medical condition requirements documented by a letter from your physician.

It is possible for a kindergarten student to be assigned to any of the three elementary schools. Class size, the location of the child at noon (home, daycare, etc.), noon kindergarten only bus runs contribute to this assignment.

We understand that parents would like to keep siblings in the same school. Please see the answer to FAQ # 1 above. THE DISTRICT CANNOT COMMIT TO PLACING KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS IN THE SAME BUILDING AS THEIR SIBLINGS. In our efforts to balance class size and also create timely bus runs, we need to have any of the elementary schools suffice as the home school.

Bus schedule cards with building assignments are typically mailed the first week of August.

Each school year brings new Kindergarten students with new addresses. There is no practice of placing the same neighborhood in the same building and Kindergarten session yearly.

Student information changes include at least one variation of either address, home of record (to include results of split/arranged custody situations), active guardian of the student, emergency/contact phone numbers and information, transportation change requests, or any other information pertinent information. Any changes in the above mentioned information should be reported to the students’ respective school building immediately. Please note that NO student information can be changed unless the student’s parent or legal guardian makes the request. AND the transportation department may only process a change in student information and it’s impact on transportation AFTER being contacted by the school building staff.

Section 1517 of the Public School Code of 1949 requires all schools to conduct two emergency school bus evacuation drills on school grounds during each school year. The first is to be conducted during the first week of the first school term and the second during the month of March, and at such other times as the chief school administrator may require. Each such drill shall include the practice and instruction concerning the location, use and operation of emergency exit doors and fire extinguishers and the proper evacuation of schools and / or buses in the event of fires or accidents. On or before the tenth day of April each year, each district must certify to the Department of Education that the emergency evacuation drills herein required have been held.

Southern Lehigh School District will conduct a school bus evacuation drill prior to the end of the month of March in accordance with above referenced law. Elementary schools will conduct their bus drills in the morning after arriving at school buildings and prior to entering the building for classes. High School and Middle School will conduct school bus evacuation drills in the afternoon at the Middle School prior to being transported home.

Southern Lehigh School District is essentially responsible for students from the time they are picked up at their respective bus stops until they are dropped off at the end of the day.  Bus drivers are authorized to verbally maintain order on the buses in the interest of the safety of all students.  Discipline issues are not handled by the transportation department.  (Please refer to the student handbook for bus safety rules) Discipline issues handled by the driver may result in a change of seat assignment.  If the minor infractions become habitual or turn into more serious disciplinary situations, the Southern Lehigh School District has provided a discipline form that the driver completes and returns to the Branch Manager.  The manager reviews the report and submits it to the appropriate building principal.   The building principle ultimately assigns the appropriate disciplinary action.  Our transporters work closely with school principals to ensure that the driver of the bus is acting within school discipline guidelines.  In the event of a more serious infraction or a situation that requires immediate action, the drivers are instructed to park their bus and contact dispatch.  At this time, the transportation department and school building will be alerted to the situation and, if necessary, the proper authorities will be notified.

For the protection and safety of all students, video and audio recording devices may be utilized on school buses. Behavior and communication of students, while riding school buses, may be used for purposes of student discipline under provisions of the School District's Bus Transportation Policy, Student Discipline Code, and the Public School Code.

In addition to several independent transportation contracts for special transportation needs, the Southern Lehigh School District contracts with Brandywine Lehigh Transportation to provide the bulk of vehicles and drivers for transportation to and from various schools inside and outside the School District. Bus drivers are employees of Brandywine Lehigh Transportation and not Southern Lehigh School District. Questions about drivers or bus vehicles should be directed to: