The following FAQs offer quick and easy insight into how Pike County’s transportation and bus driving services work. For more information about field trips, bus rules, and system administrators, visit our primary transportation page.
Answer: Our goal for all students within the Pike County district is no more than one hour.
Answer: Usually a couple of days are needed to obtain all emergency information, process routing information, contact drivers and communicate with parents and other professionals involved.
Answer: Behavioral expectations on the school bus are much like those in the classroom. Then, factor in the mobility of that “classroom” and traffic, added noise and the size of the “classroom” and you have alot of potential for difficulties if there are not set behavrios expected and enforced. The behavioral expectations on the bus revolve around the individual rights of every person on the bus, including the driver as well as the rights of students and driver as it pertains to SAFETY. Anything that jeopardizes the safety of individuals on the bus is viewed as serious. Most drivers have Bus rules or Expectations posted on the bus. When there is an infraction, a referral is handled by Transportation and/or school administration. Age-Appropriate disciplinary action is given to those misbehavior or lack of compliance with bus expectations. Most buses have video cameras, which are used to verify incidents. Our goal is never to deny any student transportation to and from school, but we must maintain safety for all students.
Answer: Authorized riders on PIKE County School buses are limited to the following:
– A student enrolled in PIKE County schools Pre-K program to 12th grade
– Approved Field field trip adult chaperone(s)
– Pike County Schools Staff members
– Law Enforcement personnel
– Authorized student rider on Pike County County School Special Ed buses are limited to students with IEP plan, 504 plans
or declaration of homeless status stating the student has special transportation.
NOTE: Students in our Pike County Alternative Program (PCAP) are NOT provided bus or school transportation. These students must provide their own menas of transportation to PCAP.
Answer: It is simply a numbers problem. There are as many 50-70 students on each bus. That is at least 50-70 phone calls in a short time frame to parents who are quite possibly at the bus stop with their children. It is just not feasible. Please know that there is a bus on the way and that we will do everything humanly possible to transport your child to and from school in a timely manner every day. If your scheduled bus is late, please allow ten to thirty minutes before calling the transportation office or the school.
Answer: Seat assignments are a positive way for the ride to be consistent and safe. It is also our policy that ALL students can be given a specific, assigned seat. This aids the driver with discipline and learning each student’s names at the beginning of the school year. We trust our drivers to let us know when this policy is no longer effective. This is an expectation of the students to sit in their assigned seat, if given one by the driver.
Answer: This policy avoids confusion and the chance of students getting lost or running away and helps ensure the safe delivery of your student to is / her scheduled stop.
Answer: Safety is the main issue, when a child attempts to get on the bus at another stop it becomes a dangerous situation, the bus driver may not see them, every year we here of children that are injured and killed by motorist and school buses while attempting to catch the bus at another bus stop.
Answer: The Superintendent of schools is responsible for the final decision to close schools due to inclement weather. The decision is made after administrative staff report from various positions in the county regarding road conditions. Other factors considered are school facility information (heat, water, power), school parking lot conditions, temperature and wind chill, snow and ice build up on main and secondary roads and weather forecasts and predictions. A decision will be made and the public will be notified as soon as possible using our Crisis Communication system. The following media sites will carry that information to the public:
Website
www.pike.k12.ga.us
Radio Stations
WSB 750 AM
WTGA 101.1 FM
Television Stations
WSB-TV channel 2
WAGA-TV channel 5
WXIA-TV channel 11
WGNX-TV channel 46
Answer: A committee of people already involved in a student’s education determines transportation needs. After it has been determined that the student would benefit from being transported apart from the mainstreamed students, the teacher will complete and send a special needs transportation request to the county ESEP Department for processing.
Answer: Special needs transportation is granted in accordance with a student’s needs as a related service to the IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Students who receive an education without an IEP are provided transportation through conventional means.
