Tips for Working with the CCSD School Bus System

Parents in the Las Vegas valley have some confusion about our local school bus system. I hope that my information below will help clear up any confusion.

Question:  How do I know if my child is eligible for bus transportation?

Answer: Go to the school district transportation website, enter in your address, and it will tell you if your zoned schools are transportation eligible.

CLICK HERE

After your information has been entered the computer will tell you what schools for your neighborhood have bus transportation available.

The district site will tell you which schools are eligible for transportation:

Specific stop locations are not listed on this website.

Question:  How do I register for bus transportation?

Answer:  A transportation form has been included in registration packets for each school year. If you do not recall completing such a form, or you did not use bus transportation in the past you will be best served to register for service this year.

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Question: What is my student’s ID number?

Answer: This is a six or seven digit number that appears on all of the school correspondence including grade reports and newsletters. If you have a Parentlink account activated you can find your child’s ID number from the detail screen about your student.  The transportation department will not give you this number over the phone.  Your child’s school may give you the number with proper ID with many offices not able to give it out over the phone.

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To speak to a transportation representative call (702) 799-8111.

Monday through Friday: 6:00 am – 5:00pm

Saturday and Sunday: 8:00am – 4:00pm

Click here to go to LIVE CHAT with an agent during the hours above.

 

Question: What about buses for magnet schools?

Answer:  When you register for magnet school the transportation form is included.  You can access your student’s bus information through the website using their id number.

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Question: My child is in special education are those buses also handled by this department?

Answer:  Special education buses are handled by the transportation department. These bus drivers and assistants see only the page of your child’s IEP regarding transportation outlining what services the student specifically needs to be transported to and from school.

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Question: When are bus notices mailed to my home?

Answer: I have been told that bus notices will be mailed and put on ParentLink no later than August 15th.

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Question: How am I notified about changes to the bus stop or schedule?

Answer: Your student will receive a new print out from the driver.  Since my kids seem to lose theirs I also keep a close eye on the ParentLink website. I am emailed every time a new message is waiting for me on ParentLink so I can login and see what I need to know. The bus notices are frequent the first few weeks of school.

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Question: What about the activity buses?

Answer: These are buses at select schools that transport your student 1-2 hours after the end of the school day so that they can have access to after school programs. The details about each of these programs you will need to get from your school.  These buses run depending on how many students decided to participate in activities so it may be a shorter or longer bus ride for your child at the end of the day.

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Question: What time should I arrive to the bus stop?

Answer: You should arrive at least 15 minutes early to the bus stop on the first day, and expect that the bus may be as much as 1 hour late. On normal days after the first week of school buses run for the most part on time.

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Question: When should I call the transportation department over a late bus?

Answer: This depends on the age of your child. For my youngest children I call when the bus is 30 minutes or more late. My older kids I call if the bus is more than an hour late. Keep the phone number to the transportation department programmed on your cell phone  799-8111. Also if your student is on a bus after 5pm when the transportation phone lines close you will need to get the number for the local station the buses leave from for your area so that you can speak to that local dispatcher after the main hotline closes. For magnet school students one snag along the way and the bus may be out as late as 7. In an emergency you can always call the school police 799-5411 for assistance if your child is extremely late.

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Question: What happens when a school bus breaks down or gets in an accident?

Answer: CCSD does a great job of keeping parents informed in the event of a break down or accident. Our family has had two experiences over the last 5 years once a tire blew out on the way home from school and before my son’s bus was even late the transportation office called me with a new time that he would arrive. My son reported that no fewer than 6 people all showed up to get the bus back on the road. My daughter’s bus had an accident where a piece of debris flew out of a truck onto the bus cracking a window. The driver being very cautious for the students safety stopped the bus and a new bus was sent to pick up the kids. Again, the transportation department called to tell me even before the bus was late.

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Question: What happens if my child gets on the wrong bus?

Answer: The first weeks of school the staff is vigilant to ensure that all students are tagged with their names and stop information. My daughter’s school used colored bracelets. This worked well until she and her friend decided to switch colors and she took the wrong bus because her name tag and bracelet had not been matched. So she rode on a bus to a different neighborhood and was the last kid on the bus when the driver found out. Again, transportation called me so I would not have to worry. This incident was taken very seriously and my daughter was returned to our stop by a supervisor.  So please remind your children that the color coded necklaces and bracelets the schools pass out are for safety, not as fashion accessories.

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Question: What about discipline on the bus?

Answer: The first and foremost job of the bus driver is student safety. Drivers cannot do their jobs distracted by unruly children. Their job is to drive the bus, not break up fights. Most annoying I have heard from bus drivers are parents who expect them to keep track of petty she-said-this she-said-that fights on the bus. First of the bus is so loud the driver cannot hear what smack talk is happening at the back of the bus no better than you can hear what your own kids are saying in the backseat of the minivan with the stereo on. Now just imagine that by 30 plus screaming kids! Just like you the bus driver does not have eyes on the back of their head to see if anything gets stolen or snatched.

All the driver can do is write up a referral (delaying the bus for everyone) and have the school administrators handle it. This again is an exercise in futility because of course by two days after the event has happened kids deny that they did anything wrong. Riding the bus in many ways is a at-your-own-risk proposition if your child is a target of bullies. The only solution at hand is to have your child ride in the very front seat alone.

However if your child is disabled on an IEP you can request a transfer to special education busing to your neighborhood school if the environment on the bus interferes with his or her ability to learn at school.

Go over the top ten basic bus safety rules with your children. 

As with the rest of the school environment have your children keep their expensive electronic toys off of the bus. For my kids we purchased cheap $10 MP3 players at BigLots for the ride to and from school so in case it gets lost it is not the crisis that comes with losing a more expensive device. Tell your kids to keep their cell phones inside their backpack at all times. Again, we give our kids the cheapest phone possible prepaid with only a few minutes so that if it is lost it is not a financial crisis resulting in charges to our real cell phone account. One lost cell phone within minutes can charge hundreds to your bill in malicious purchases if your account is not adequately protected. Kids may take days to tell you they have lost their phone.~Have a great school year. Remember that your child’s bus driver is only human, and that safety and courtesy are everyone’s job from parents to drivers and administrators too. Let’s have a great 2011-2012 school year!