As a parent, you are your child’s most influential teacher. We are asking that you teach your child about school bus safety. This is an important message; this information will help you explain to your child how to be safe around and on the bus. Spend some time with your child on these points. Explain the reasons why they are important, and go over them again three or four times on different days so that your child will have a safer bus ride when school starts. Thank you. 

Kindergarten Bus Safety Guidelines 

1. Be ready for the bus at the scheduled time. 

2. Wait until bus is stopped before moving toward the bus and getting on. 

3. After getting on the bus, go to a seat, sit down and stay seated. 

4. Share your seat with others and keep your hands to yourself.

5. Remain quiet on the bus, so you don’t distract the driver. 

6. Do what the driver asks you to do. 

7. Make sure that you get on the right bus - know your bus numbers. 

8. Always carry your bussing information. 

9. Be ready to get off the bus when it gets near your stop, but stay seated until the bus stops at your stop. 

10. After getting off of the bus, walk away from the bus. Don’t stay near it. If you have to cross the street, go at least ten big steps in front of the bus, and wait until the driver waves for you to cross the street. Never go back to the bus after you get off of it. If you drop something, wait until the bus is gone, and then get your guardian to go with you to go get it. 

Kindergarten Bus Safety Guidelines with Explanation 

1. Be ready for the bus at the scheduled time. Bus times are set based on the streets that they run on and with a standard loading time. If a student is late to the stop, and the bus has to wait, the bus will be late to all the rest of the stops and to school. Another concern is that bus riders who are late to stops often don’t act safely, and so are in more danger than if they were ready on time.  The driver will not wait for late students.

2. Wait until bus is stopped before moving toward the bus and getting on. Often students get anxious to get on the bus as it arrives, so they run forward while the bus is still moving. This is dangerous because a student could slip or fall in front of the bus. 

3. After getting on the bus, go to a seat, sit down and stay seated. Law requires that students be seated while a bus is moving. Students should sit down quickly so that the bus runs on time. If a student is standing when the bus is moving, he or she may get knocked down or around by the movement of the bus. This could cause injury. 

4. Your student most likely will have to share his or her seat with two other students. We ask that the students will share their seats. Not sharing their seats will distract the driver and could cause a serious safety issue for all the students on the bus.  We also ask that the students keep their hands and feet to themselves. Physical contact (even if they are playing) around is not tolerated.

5. Remain quiet on the bus, so you don’t distract the driver. While the bus is moving, kids often talk, and that is okay unless it gets too loud. Then the driver can’t hear important things like sirens or train whistles, or can be distracted by having to pay attention to the kids and miss something important like a stoplight, or a car coming from another direction. 

6. Do what the driver asks you to do. The driver is in charge of the bus, and sometimes has to tell students to be quiet, or to sit down, or to wait to get on or off of the bus. The driver is trying to keep students safe, and so kids should do what he or she says. 

7. Make sure that you get on the right bus - know your bus numbers. The bus which takes the kindergartner to school may be different that the one that brings her or him home. The kindergartner should always know the bus number which will bring her/him home because that is the one at school where there may be other buses to choose from. 

8. Always carry your bussing information. A great thing to do is to write it is on the inside of your child’s backpack with permanent marker. Your child’s name, address, phone number and bussing information should be included. If there is a question about the bus or bus stop. The driver and school staff are trained to look in the backpack for this information. This should be carried in the back pack all the time. 

9. Be ready to get off the bus when it gets near your stop, but don’t get up until the bus stops at your stop. A lot of times, young students get so involved in a conversation or the ride or whatever that they forget that they are on a ride home. They don’t watch for their stop, and then when they arrive they aren’t ready to pickup their backpack and get off of the bus. This delays the bus and makes everybody else late. Sometimes, the kindergartner misses his or her stop, and then the bus has to go back to the stop, and the parents are very concerned. 

10. After getting off of the bus, walk away from the bus. Don’t stay near it. If you have to cross the street, go at least 5 big steps in front of the bus, and wait until the driver waves for you to cross the street. Never go back to the bus after you get off of it. If you drop something, wait until the bus is gone, and then get your guardian to go with you to go get it. This is the most important instruction on this page. According to statistics, this is the area where most student fatalities occur. The three key points are to go 10 big steps in front of the bus, wait until the driver tells you to cross, and never go back to the bus. If your kindergartner doesn’t have to cross still take time on these points, because the route may change with new riders or next year your child’s route may change.