School buses continue to be the safest mode of transportation to and from school. The design of the bus by state construction standards makes a bus a very safe vehicle to transport children. Last year, we transported 1,600 students daily and traveled about 209,000 miles per year doing so. We transported to our five buildings as well as six other schools within the county.

We are working hard preparing for our greatest challenge yet, entering the school year with the challenges Covid-19 brings. We will, in the coming days, send out a text message asking for parents requesting transportation to fill out a form on the transportation page. This allows that we may get those students scheduled and on a bus easier. Unlike in years past, this form is a google form so it can be submitted online, therefore no need to download, print, and submit. It can be found in the “students and parents section” in transportation and they are in the green box to the right. This year more than ever we will need an accurate count of students requiring transportation. If your student will not ride daily please don’t fill out a request. Rather, just call the bus garage a few days before them needing a ride. This request must be very accurate to be sure we have seats to accommodate riders.

This year currently we will have all our drivers planning on returning and we are training 3 more as subs. Again, like years past we will be asking any student open enrolled to plan on their parents transporting their students for the first three weeks and then we can decide if it would be possible to transport based on our in district student counts.

Students MUST wear a mask while riding the bus, this is for their safety as well as others. Please talk to your students about behaviors on the bus. The same rules apply on the bus as in the classroom. Stay in your seat. Use classroom voices. Keep your hands to yourself. No inappropriate language. No eating or drinking on the school bus. Violations of these rules will result in a "Bus Write-Up" that will lead to a bus suspension.

Feel free to call the office at any time if you have a question or concern 419-589-3473

I hope everyone has a great school year that brings many new and exciting learning experiences!

Mike Yost, Transportation Supervisor, Madison Local Schools