Regular Bus Service

Code No.: 702.4
REGULAR BUS SERVICE
Purpose: To provide guidelines for regular bus service to the District attendance centers.
Policy: Elementary and middle school students living more than two miles from their designated school attendance
centers and high school students living more than three miles from their designated attendance centers are entitled to
transportation to and from their attendance center at the expense of the school district.
Distance to school or to a bus route shall be measured only on the public highway. The Board’s designee shall determine
the most passable and safest route starting in the roadway opposite the private entrance to the residence of the student and
ending in the roadway opposite the entrance to the school grounds or designated point on his/her route.
A student may be required, at the board’s discretion, to meet a school vehicle without reimbursement up to three-fourths of
a mile. The board may require the parent to transport their children up to two miles to connect with school bus vehicles at
the expense of the school district when conditions deem it advisable. It is within the discretion of the board to determine
such conditions. Parents of students who live where transportation by bus is impracticable or unavailable may be required
to furnish transportation to and from the designated attendance center at the expense of the school district. Parents, who
transport their children at the expense of the school district, are reimbursed at the rate per mile set by the state.
Transportation of students who require special education services will generally be provided as for other students, when
appropriate. Specialized transportation of a student to and from a special education instructional service is a function of
that service and, therefore, an appropriate expenditure of special education instructional funds generated through the
weighting plan.
Transportation of a student to and from a special education support service is a function of that service, and is specified in
the individualized education program (IEP) or the individualized family service plan (IFSP). When the IEP or IFSP team
determines that unique transportation arrangements are required and the arrangements are specified in the IEP or IFSP, the
school district will provide one or more of the following transportation arrangements for instructional services and the
AEA for support services:
 Transportation from the student’s residence to the location of the special education and back to the student’s
residence, or child care placement for students below the age of six.
 Special assistance or adaptations in getting the student to and from and on and off the vehicle, en route to and
from the special education.
 Reimbursement of the actual costs of transportation when by mutual agreement the parents provide transportation
for the student to and from the special education.
The school district is not required to provide reimbursement to parents who elect to provide transportation in lieu of
agency-provided transportation.
Transportation arrangements made by agreement with a neighboring school district will follow the terms of the agreement.
Students, who choose to attend a school in a school district other than their resident school district, will provide
transportation to and from the school at their own expense.
Students attending nonpublic schools shall be provided transportation in accordance with the provisions and restrictions of
Iowa law.
Legal Reference: Iowa Code, Chapters 285, 321.
Approved __________
Reviewed 12/20/99
Revised 4/18/94
Reviewed 1/17/05
Revised 4/19/10
Revised 4/4/16