Transportation

Preparing your Child

The Lloydminster Public School Division wants to ensure your child's safety and make their experience on the bus a positive one. To assist the bus driver, ensure you take the following steps:

Help your child to learn where their bus stop is located. Some suggested methods for teaching your child the correct bus stop location are:

• Walk with your child from their home or caregivers to their bus stop before the school year starts. If possible, walk with them for the first several days of school until you are comfortable that they know where the bus stop is located.
• As the PM stop can be at a different spot, even on the other side of the road, make sure they know that as well. If possible, arrange to have someone (yourself or a caregiver) meet your child at the bus stop. One of the best ways for a young child to recognize their bus stop after school is to see a familiar face. Do this until you are comfortable that your child is confident enough to travel safely from the bus stop to their after school destination.  
• Prior to the school year starting, drive along the bus route with your child so that they are familiar with the location of the bus stop from the bus “perspective”. Point out landmarks, such as a park or church, that will help your child to identify their correct bus stop.
• Talk to your child about their role on the bus. Student bus rides are relatively short in duration, typically less than 10 minutes, so they need to be paying attention for their bus stop.
• Remember, parents are responsible for teaching their children the way home from their bus stop.
• Have a plan. Make sure your child knows to stay on the bus if they have missed their stop or are on the wrong bus. They should not get off the bus. LPSD has a lost child procedure in place.  Bus drivers will return young students to their school when they have missed their stop or are unsure of their way home from the bus stop.  

School bus drivers are in continuous contact with the LPSD Division Office. Finding the home of a child is much easier than finding a child who got off at the wrong stop. If your child stays on the bus, the driver will ensure your child is looked after.

Rules and Regulations

Student passengers are responsible for their conduct while riding a school bus. Incidents of misconduct will be reported to the student’s principal. Principals are responsible for ensuring appropriate student conduct on school buses in the same manner as they would in a classroom.

Misconduct on school buses will be investigated and reviewed by school principals in the same manner as would occur had the misconduct taken place at the school. The Lloydminster Public School Division busses are equipped with video surveillance equipment. Students may be monitored by video and audio surveillance devices.

Upon review of an incident of misconduct the principal will take appropriate disciplinary actions. Continued violation of any of the following school bus rules may lead to the loss of riding privileges or to suspension from school:

1. Be at your bus stop five minutes before the scheduled departure time
2. Remain in your seat, facing forward at all times
3. Help keep the bus clean and free of litter
4. No food or drink is to be consumed on the school bus
5. No smoking
6. No objects are to be thrown on or from the bus
7. No obscene language
8. No roughhousing
9. The cost for repairs to buses damaged by students will be invoiced to the students' household
10. Students are responsible to their school principal while riding school buses. Respect for operators and supervisors is expected
11. Inappropriate behaviour will be reported to school principals 

Equipment on Buses

Band instruments are allowed on the bus if they can be held firmly between the child's legs during the bus ride.
In compliance with the Federal Safety Regulations the following items are NOT allowed on school buses:

• Sleds/Toboggans
• Skateboards
• Scooters
• Hockey/Lacrosse Sticks
• Baseball Bats
• any other items that can not be contained within the students backpack.

Skates may be brought to school on the bus but MUST be in a duffel bag or similar, not carried loose or in a plastic bag. If a student needs or wishes to bring an item to school that does not meet these standards, they will be required to have the item transported to and from school by the parent/guardian.

Street Safety

School bus loading zones provide a safe area for students to embark and disembark the buses. Parents picking up or dropping off their children should not use these areas, evn to just drop off or pick up a student. They should be aware of the dangers of allowing their children to jaywalk or run between the buses.

Children should be instructed in the proper crossing procedures when disembarking the bus at the end of the day.

They should: Leave bus promptly but safely. Cross several feet in front of bus, where bus driver can see them and bus safety lights and stop arm are in operation to stop the flow of traffic.

They should not: Go under a bus to retrieve any lost items.

 
Bus Safety During Winter Months

Bus students and parents are reminded that extra caution should be taken during the winter months. Please take a moment and review this important information with your children.

Parents whose children are bused to school are responsible for monitoring winter weather conditions and for having an alternate plan if the school bus is canceled due to severe weather.  LPSD school buses are expected to operate as scheduled under most weather and urban travel conditions.  There should be very few occasions when severe weather or adverse operations would affect school bus service.

• LPSD In Town school buses will be canceled for the entire day (Pre K – 12) if at 4 pm the day prior a windchill of -45 or lower is reported for 7am the following day – as recorded by Environment Canada
• LPSD will provide this information via the free app BUS STATUS which all parents of registered bus students are encouraged to download and set up for the bus(es) their child(ren) use
• LPSD will notify social media, school websites and news sites

Usually cold or stormy weather can result in bus schedules being unavoidably delayed. If a bus is delay 10 minutes or more this information will be updated on the Bus Status website.  We encourage parents to use extra caution with children on those days. Children should be accompanied to the bus stop or have very clear instructions on what to do if the bus does not arrive. Never leave children at the stop with no backup arrangements for an emergency.

A build-up of ice and snow can create a safety hazard for children waiting at the bus stop. Ensure that your child understands the importance of standing back from the curb as the bus approaches the bus stop.

Children will find it easier to walk through the ice and snow when their schoolbooks and lunches are carried in a backpack. It is also much safer for them to board the bus with their hands free to use the bus handrail.