751

STUDENT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
(Transportation in Areas of Unusual Hazards and School Bus Scheduling and Routing)

The Appleton Area School District provides transportation for students who reside outside of the city limits and two miles from their schools, for students who reside within the city limits but attend a school outside of the city which is two or more miles from their home, (for students who are placed in an EEN program outside of their home attendance area, also for students who attend EEN programs in their home attendance area if the M-Team deems transportation necessary for the safety of the child) and for students whose routes to their schools are found to be unusually hazardous. Students with physically handicapping conditions, both temporary and permanent, will be provided transportation to and from school regardless of where their program is located.

The District will follow Wisconsin State Statute 121.54(9) each time it receives a request for transportation due to unusually hazardous situations.

The Appleton Area School District will also comply with all state regulations concerning transportation of regular and EEN students, with the safety of the students as the uppermost consideration. All transportation arrangements will be made by the District’s Operations Supervisor with approved carriers.

School bus routes should generally be confined to the main roads. Stopping points which take into consideration the safety of students shall be established. Routes will be designed so that normally no student will have to walk home more than one quarter of a mile to and from the bus to his/her home.

Schedules should be established which will cause the students to be picked up at a set time and arrive at school before the start of the school day, but not earlier than twenty minutes before the start of classes. At the close of the school day, busses should be scheduled so as to arrive at the school no later than fifteen minutes after the close of the school day or the end of the last class.

 

Cross Reference:
Transportation in Areas of Unusual Hazard, 751-Rule

Legal References:
Wisconsin State Statute 121.54 (9)
Wisconsin Administrative Code PI 7

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Adoption Date: March 14, 1988 and November 27, 1989

 

 

751-Rule

STUDENT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
(Transportation in Areas of Unusual Hazards)

Procedures

The procedures of Wisconsin State Statute 121.54(9) will be followed when an area is to be considered for designation as an area of unusual hazard, and when a request for transportation due to unusual hazard is received.

It is recognized that all traffic situations present some degree of hazard for all pedestrians and motorists. When such hazards reach a level, which is deemed unacceptable by the School Board, the area may be identified as “unusually hazardous,” and transportation may be provided. The unusually hazardous designation may be rescinded when conditions change.

Requests to declare an area as unusually hazardous shall be directed to the Board of Education who will refer them to the Facilities Committee. A member of the Facilities Committee and the Operations Supervisor shall investigate and study the existing conditions of the area under consideration. A representative from the sheriff’s department having jurisdiction over the area may be involved to assist in the investigation and study. The Facilities Committee shall submit a recommendation to the Board of Education. The Board of Education may also request that the municipality eliminate the situation through such actions as hiring crossing guards, more law enforcement, installation of sidewalks, or improving road conditions.

In making a recommendation, the Board committee shall consider all circumstances including, but not necessarily limited to, criteria such as:

1. Has the area had a significant change within the past six months to warrant it becoming a hazardous area?
2. An excessive traffic rate during the times children walk to or from school along a road or highway on which the pupil must walk without benefit of:
   1. A regular sidewalk on at least one side of the street;
   2. At least 3.5 feet of walking space outside of a curbed roadway on both sides of the roadway; or
   3. At least five feet of shoulder on each side of the road on a two-lane or four-lane road.
3. An excessive rate during the time children are going to and from school through the crosswalk at an uncontrolled intersection, when the crossing exceeds 40 feet in width.
4. A unique traffic situation demanding extra consideration such as peak traffic hours due to industrial work shift changes or heavy truck traffic.
5. Hazards such as construction projects, street repairs, excavations, and similar activities, which invite problems of safety for children walking to and from school.
6. Railroad crossings, where moving trains, as well as trains stopped at crossings, present hazards to young people.

It is the position of the Board of Education that the primary responsibility for getting children to and from school rests with the parents. The job of correcting hazards relating to traffic is not within the jurisdiction of the Board of Education, nor does the Board of Education wish to supplant other governmental bodies by assuming such a role, although the Board of Education will make recommendations for possible approaches toward diminishing such hazards. Transporting students by the Board of Education should be the last considered solution in cases of unusually hazardous areas where all other attempts at solving the problems have been exhausted.

Persons aggrieved by the Board of Education’s decision not to designate an area as unusually hazardous will follow the procedures of Wisconsin State Statute 121.54(9).

An area considered for unusually hazardous status, but failing to be so identified, shall not be considered again for a minimum of one year, or unless there has been a significant change in the area to warrant consideration before the one-year period expires.

 

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Adoption Date: November 27, 1989