The school principal has the authority to discipline pupils attending public schools and riding buses to and from school. The principal also has the authority to suspend bus-riding privileges to students who create disciplinary problems on the bus, posing a hazard to themselves, their fellow students, the bus driver, and the motoring public.

These regulations are furnished for all pupils who ride Chesapeake Public Schools’ buses on regular runs, field trips, or extracurricular trips. Parents or guardians and pupils should read this information, sign the appropriate form, and return it to the school principal.

Parents and guardians are encouraged to accompany primary and elementary age students to and from bus stops. Pupils must:

• Be on time. Be at their bus stop at least five minutes before the regular pickup time, but no earlier than ten minutes before the bus arrives.

• Not stand on the traveled portion of the roadway while waiting for a bus.

• Not engage in play or activities that will endanger themselves or their companions while waiting beside the road.

• Watch for the bus driver’s signal that it is safe to cross a highway or road. They should cross at least ten feet in front of the bus and never cross behind it.

• Respect the property of home owners in the area.

• Board the bus in an orderly fashion.

• Report immediately to the driver any illness or injury sustained on or around the bus.

Pupils must:

• Recognize that the bus driver is the authority on the bus, obey the bus driver and be courteous to him/her and to fellow students. The driver has the authority to assign seats to maintain order and discipline and to promote safety.

• Go directly to their assigned seats and remain seated unless directed by the driver to do otherwise.

• Refrain from marring or defacing the bus. Willful or careless damage must be paid for by the pupil performing the act.

• Refrain from using profanity or indecent language.

• Refrain form using tobacco.

• Refrain from possessing drugs or alcohol.

• Keep arms, legs, or head inside the bus at all times.

• Refrain from talking or distracting the driver while the bus is in motion except in the case of an emergency.

• Refrain from fighting, scuffling, or slapping others.

• Refrain from tampering with the emergency door.

• Refrain from waving or shouting at pedestrians or passengers in other vehicles.

• Refrain from throwing objects in the bus or from a window or throwing objects at the bus.

• Refrain from carrying oversized objects on the bus that would block the aisle, cause loss of passenger seat space, obstruct the driver’s view, or create a safety hazard. Objects shall never be placed in the aisle or at the front of the bus on the floor.

• Refrain from selling or consuming food or beverages.

• Refrain from throwing paper or litter on the floor.

• Refrain from unnecessary loud talking or laughing

• Refrain from opening windows without the driver’s permission.

• Refrain from operating portable radios and/or other audio equipment.

• Refrain from sitting on textbooks and other objects. Standing or sitting in the aisle is not permitted.

• Refrain from possessing any unsafe objects (water pistols, animals, reptiles, insects, matches, knives, firearms, etc.) in their possession.

• Ride the assigned bus. No change in a bus may be made without the permission of the school principal and/or the transportation director.

• Have written request from parents to go home on an alternate route. Bus drivers must be notified by the school office when approval is given to a pupil to change a bus trip.

• Be aware that no change will be made in the location of bus stops or bus routing without the approval of the Transportation Department.

Parents, guardians, or designated adults should meet kindergarten students at the bus stop.

Pupils must:

• Remain seated until the bus comes to a full stop. Leave the bus in an orderly manner; pupils in the front seats unload first.

• Exit their bus at their regular stop.

• Exit the bus stop area as soon as discharged form the bus and at a distance of at least 10 feet in front of the bus. Students must not cross until the driver has signaled that it is safe to do so.