Dear Parent or Guardian:
As we near the start of school, the transportation department is gearing up for another successful year. We appreciate the patience and understanding that our parents showed last year as rules and guidelines changed in order to keep students safe on buses. We continue to work on making transportation the safest and most efficient for our students and staff. If you have not registered your student yet, please do so on Skyward or contact your school as soon as possible.
Due to state mandated COVID-19 related safety concerns the following guidelines will continue this school year:
- We will only be able to drop off and pick up from one location. (These locations can be different for pick up and drop off. If you need a permanent alternate location, please select that option in Skyward registration and fill in the necessary information.)
- Students will ride one bus from their pick up points to their school destination. There will be no shuttle exchanges at any of our schools.
- Students in grades 3-12 and drivers will be required to wear masks while on the bus. It is recommended that students in grades K-2 wear masks.
- Students will be assigned seats so contact tracing is able to be conducted if necessary.
- If a same day transportation change is necessary, changes must be made before 12:00 p.m. to allow transportation staff time to adjust scheduling. We must receive written or verbal notification from a parent for any transportation change. We will not accept verbal approval, text messages or phone calls from the student. Written notifications need to be turned into the students’ school. Students with a transportation change will not be allowed on the bus without a transportation change slip from their school.
Transportation assignments for your student can be reviewed on Skyward Family Access under the transportation tab beginning August 9. Please note that pick up and drop off times are approximations so allow 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after each designated time for the first few days of school as we make adjustments to our routes. If you have any questions about routing or bus assignments, please contact us at (765) 348-7554.
We are looking forward to the 2021-2022 school year with excitement and anticipation of a successful year.
Sincerely,
Shannon Bannister
Transportation Coordinator
Blackford County Schools