Transportation

School bus rules 2023-24

  • Students must ride the same bus to and from school once routes have been established.

Bus transportation is available to all students attending Fonda-Fultonville.

Bus stops are designated by the school district. In the villages, students will be picked up at group stops. Students will be picked up at the end of the road for any stop on a dead end road that is less than a half mile from the end of the road.

At Fonda-Fultonville, we look at the transportation of your child as an important job and one that focuses on safety. Rules and regulations, extensive driver training and meticulous vehicle maintenance are all of the things that demonstrate safety as an unquestionable first priority. Our fleet of approximately 31 buses travels about 200,000 miles per year in a district that covers about 130 square miles. Our buses are contracted through private contractors.

Our purpose is to provide each child a safe ride. With this goal in mind, our bus contractors, Brown Transportation and Student Transportation of America (STA), have enjoyed superb safety records. We appreciate their efforts and dedication to the safe transportation of our students.

Wi-Fi available for today’s students

Beginning this year, the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District will introduce Wi-Fi connectivity to its school buses. The Wi-Fi implementation was supported by a federal grant, called the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which is a federal grant that assists schools and libraries to provide the tools and services their communities need for closing the homework gap for students. The FFCS administrative team was required to submit a detail-oriented application to be selected for the federal funding. 

As more classwork goes digital, and more opportunities are brought to our students through online resources, this Wi-Fi rollout will allow day-to-day students, student-athletes and FFCS students participating in extracurricular activities to take advantage of time on buses that otherwise would not be an option. This is the first-ever introduction of the program in the Hamilton Fulton Montgomery (HFM) region and will provide students with easy access to their schoolwork curriculum. This service is provided at no cost to our district stakeholders, while enabling FFCS students to gain accessibility to their online classroom materials. 

Please note that only FFCS students’ chromebooks can access the Wi-Fi connection.

School Bus Discipline Policy

  • First Offense: Warning, notice sent to parents, needs to be signed and returned to the school administrator.
  • Second Offense: Bus riding privileges will be removed for a period of one day for grades K-4 and two days for grades 5-12.
  • Third Offense: Bus riding privileges will be removed for a period of three days for grades K-4 and five days for grades 5-12. A conference with the building administrator, parents, bus driver and student(s) will be held.
  • Fourth Offense: Bus riding privileges will be removed for the rest of the school year.

Detention and Sports Runs Discipline Policy

  • First Offense: Warning, notice sent to parents and phone call made.
  • Second Offense: Bus riding privileges will be removed for the rest of the year.

Safety Tips for Parents & Students

General Safety:

  • Students must cross at least 15 feet in front of the bus.
  • Never walk alongside a bus.
  • Never cross behind the bus.
  • When exiting the bus, students are to move away from the bus. They should not go to the mailbox or anywhere else by the side of the bus.
  • Students should look left-right-left before crossing the road.
  • Instruct your child that if they drop something outside of the bus to leave it where it falls. They should only attempt to retrieve the object with the driver or another adult’s supervision, when the bus has gone and the road is clear.
  • Children should wait a safe distance away from the road.

Parents:

  • Make sure your child is ready five minutes before the scheduled pick up time.
  • Once a child has been provided with a bus route, the district will only provide transportation for that route throughout the entire school year. 
  • Please be home or arrange for someone to be home at the time your child is normally dropped off. In addition, we cannot leave a child (second grade or lower) to be dropped off without the presence of an adult. Please review the Code of Conduct with your child. It helps when parents reinforce the rules and regulations set forth by the district.
  • Please avoid letting your child bring large objects on the bus.
  • Please avoid letting your child bring objects of value on the bus. Understand that items are easily lost.
  • Please understand that seating charts and bus discipline are the responsibility of the driver.
  • Be aware of school buses on the road and make sure to stop a safe distance from the bus when it is displaying flashing red lights.
  • Please use caution when driving on school grounds.
  • Please do not pick your child up directly off of the bus at school. All students need to be officially signed out in their respective school building main offices. 

Students:

Riding the bus is a privilege. Anyone who does not conduct himself/herself properly will be denied the privilege of riding the bus. Students are expected to adhere to the rules and regulations set forth by the school district as follows…

  • Students are always expected to obey the driver and respond promptly to the driver’s instructions.
  • Students should be in the assigned seat designated by the driver.
  • Students should remain seated until the bus arrives at their stop and when the bus comes to a complete stop.
  • Students should keep their hands to themselves and respect other students and their property.
  • Hitting and fighting on the bus will not be tolerated.
  • Students should avoid yelling and screaming and should keep their voice to an appropriate volume.
  • Students should avoid using inappropriate language.
  • Eating food and drinking beverages is not allowed on the bus.
  • Students are expected to keep the bus clean.
  • Smoking, chewing tobacco and consuming alcoholic beverages are not permitted on the bus.
  • Students are expected to be on time when the bus comes.
  • If it is necessary that a student cross the street to board the bus, the student shall wait for a signal from the driver to cross, after the bus comes to a complete stop. The student should make sure to cross at least 10 feet in front of the bus.
  • Students should not extend any part of their bodies out of the window.
  • Students must not open or tamper with any of the emergency exits.
  • Student should not tamper with any bus equipment. Any damaged equipment, including seats, may have to be paid for by the student.
  • Any pupil who violates school rules and regulations while riding the bus will be subject to bus suspension.
  • Do not exit the back of the bus unless directed by the driver.
  • Exercise good behavior at the bus stop. The bus stop is an extension of the bus and the same rules apply.

School:

  • The school will adhere to the Code of Conduct and discipline policy set forth.
  • The school will conduct drills on school buses three times throughout the school year.

Driver Responsibilities

  • The driver will maintain order on the bus and be in charge of discipline.
  • The driver will assign seats and generate a seating chart. Students will sit in assigned seat until reassigned by driver.
  • The driver will maintain the bus and keep it clean.
  • The driver will instruct and be in charge of conducting bus drills.
  • The driver will use his or her discretion for impassible roads caused by inclement weather.
  • If it looks like no one is home, the driver will ask student to remain on bus. The home will then be called.