Student safety is a shared responsibility.
We need students, parents and/or guardians, schools, school boards, school bus and taxi service providers and drivers, NSTS and the motoring public to make every day a safe day!
Students eligible for transportation may be assigned to one bus in the morning, and one bus in the afternoon. School bus and taxi drivers have a list of students authorized to ride on their bus, and they are only able to carry authorized students. This allows NSTS to provide the necessary information to drivers including the pick-up and drop-off locations authorized by parents and/or guardians, medical peril and potential emergency response instructions including contact information and permits proper allocation of students per bus based on capacity.
Please consider the following information to make a safety plan with your child:
Record key information in an accessible location, including:
- Your child's school name and phone number.
- Your child's four-digit bus route number.
- NSTS phone number.
- Your child's school bus company name and phone number.
Walk your child to and from the bus stop, and provide supervision at the bus stop until the bus arrives. Kindergarten students must have their parent and/or guardian present at the bus stop to support them boarding and unboarding safely. If you feel your child is old enough for the walk and wait, do a practice run with them to demonstrate pedestrian safety practices.
Inform your child of their responsibilities for a safe ride to school including, boarding and unboarding the bus in single file, to take their seat promptly, to remain seated in their seat at all times, to use their quiet voices if speaking to classmates so that the driver can concentrate on driving and to obey safety instructions provided by the driver.
Review the delay and cancellation feature of this website, subscribe to receive direct email notifications of your child's route when there is a delay greater than 10 minutes and develop a plan of what your child is supposed to do if their bus is delayed or cancelled. Similarly, if your child misses their bus in the morning or afternoon, develop a plan so that they know what you have authorized them to do.
Ensure you have communicated all medical peril information and appropriate emergency response, including contact information, to your child's school. Schools provide this information to NSTS, who in turns provides this information to service providers and drivers.