Policy 607 - Transportation of Students

The School Act permits a Board to pay all or part of the cost of transportation for a student who is travelling between home and school or who is travelling to or from an approved school-sponsored educational event.

The Board recognizes that in certain circumstances transportation assistance should be provided by the Board to students who are travelling from their home to school and return. Such circumstances include some students with special needs who attend classes in a school outside their regular school attendance area and some students whose disability makes it difficult for them to walk or to take public transportation to the neighborhood school.

The Board authorizes the Superintendent to arrange for transportation or transportation assistance at Board expense for students whom the Superintendent deems to require such an arrangement.

The Board recognizes that, on occasion, members of a school’s staff and/or other volunteers drive students to and from approved educational activities under the auspices of the school. The Board authorizes the Superintendent to develop and implement administrative procedures and to purchase additional liability insurance on behalf of the Board related to the use of private vehicles to transport students to and from such educational activities.

Administrative Procedures

Guidelines for Transportation Assistance for Students with Special Needs

All requests for transportation assistance for students with special needs will be managed by the District Principal – Student Services.

Decisions regarding whether or not such a request is granted shall be based upon the District Principal’s assessment of the following:

The nature of the student’s special need
The age of the student
The distance from home to school
The ability and willingness of the parent to assist with transporting the student
The opinion of the school principal regarding the request

When considering the nature or type of transportation to be provided by the Board, the District Principal should:

Consult with school principal regarding the student’s developmental readiness to handle the various transportation options
Keep in mind the goal of gradually increasing the student’s ability to travel independently to school and encourage the school to include this goal in the student’s Individual Educational Plan
Select a transportation option that is both appropriate for the student and cost effective

The District Principal will review periodically each case where the Board is providing transportation in order to review progress toward independent travel to school and to assess whether or not there is a continuing need for transportation assistance.

Transportation of Students by Private Vehicles

In order to provide additional liability insurance protection to volunteers using private vehicles in the transportation of students to and from approved educational activities, the Secretary-Treasurer shall obtain, from available funds, a Special Excess Third Party Legal Liability Insurance policy. Such policy shall extend to unpaid volunteer drivers and all School District staff who volunteer to drive students but are not reimbursed by the Board for the operation of their vehicles, subject to the following provisions:

The activity to which students are to be transported must be a course of study or activity that is provided or organized by, supervised by, sponsored by, or selected by, an authority of a school
The principal or the principal’s delegate shall, in each instance, give either verbal or written consent to the transportation of students by the volunteer driver
The volunteer driver must hold a valid British Columbia driver’s licence and the vehicle must be insured for the purpose for which it is normally used
The volunteer driver must be the owner of the vehicle to be used or must be operating the vehicle with the permission and consent of the owner.
The excess insurance policy shall provide only for an extension of the vehicle owner’s third party liability coverage and shall not provide the vehicle owner with any additional collision or comprehensive coverage.
Neither the volunteer driver nor the vehicle owner shall be reimbursed for any expenses incurred for the use of any vehicle used in the voluntary transportation of students.

Resources

Motor Vehicle Act Regulations - Child Seating and Restraint Systems 2008

New Booster Seat Laws Affect Field Trips with Volunteer Drivers - BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation & BC Field Trips - July 2008