The Board of Education desires to provide an orderly, caring, and safe bus transportation experience for students in which all bus drivers can operate their vehicle in an atmosphere free from distraction. The Board believes this will be achieved through the adoption and implementation of a consistent Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program. The Board believes there is a strong link between a positive bus climate and the safety of all students when students clearly understand behavioral expectations. The Superintendent or designee shall adopt a PBIS program that shall be implemented on all buses.
In order to help ensure the safety and well-being of students, bus drivers, and others, the Board of Education expects students to exhibit appropriate and orderly conduct at all times when using school transportation, including while preparing to ride, riding, or leaving the bus.
(cf. 0450 - Comprehensive Safety Plan)
(cf. 3516 - Emergencies and Disaster Preparedness Plan)
(cf. 3540 - Transportation)
(cf. 3541.2 - Transportation for Students with Disabilities)
(cf. 3543 - Transportation Safety and Emergencies)
(cf. 5131 - Conduct)
The Superintendent or designee shall establish regulations related to student conduct on buses, bus driver authority, and the suspension of riding privileges. He/she shall make these rules available to parents/guardians, students, and other interested parties. (5 CCR 14103)
(cf. 3452 - School Bus Drivers)
Students found to be in violation of the district's bus conduct rules shall be subject to discipline in accordance with Board policy and administrative regulation. The PBIS program will stress as its primary focus what is expected of students to do rather than what not to do before consequences are delivered and will identify research based consequences. Restorative Practices, a set of practices that maintain strong relationships while moving students to restore the physical or emotional environment they have damaged, will be implemented as part of the PBIS program on the bus as a positive and constructive alternative to traditional discipline techniques.
(cf. 5144 - Discipline)
(cf. 5144.1 - Suspension and Expulsion/Due Process)
The Superintendent or designee may deny a student the privilege of using school transportation upon the student's continued disorderly conduct or his/her persistent refusal to submit to the authority of the driver. (5 CCR 14103)
Bus Surveillance Systems
The Board believes that the use of surveillance systems on school buses will help to deter misconduct and improve discipline, ensure the safety of students and bus drivers, and prevent vandalism. Therefore, surveillance systems may be installed and used on school buses to monitor student behavior while traveling to and from school and school activities.
(cf. 3515 - Campus Security)
The Superintendent or designee shall notify students, parents/guardians, and staff that surveillance may occur on any school bus and that the contents of a recording may be a student record and, as such, may be used in student disciplinary proceedings or referred to local law enforcement, as appropriate. In addition, a prominent notice shall be placed in each bus stating that the bus is equipped with a surveillance monitoring system.
(cf. 5125 - Student Records)
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION CODE
35160 Authority of governing boards
39800 Transportation
39839 Transportation of guide dogs, signal dogs, service dogs
44808 Duty to supervise conduct of students
48900 Grounds for suspension and expulsion
48918 Expulsion procedures
49060-49079 Student records
49073-49079 Privacy of student records
GOVERNMENT CODE
6253-6270 California Public Records Act
CODE OF REGULATIONS, TITLE 5
14103 Authority of the driver
CODE OF REGULATIONS, TITLE 13
1200-1228 General provisions, school bus regulations
UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 20
1232g Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS, TITLE 34
99.1-99.67 Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Management Resources:
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE PUBLICATIONS
The Appropriate and Effective Use of Security Technologies in U.S. Schools: A Guide for Schools and Law Enforcement Agencies, 1999
WEB SITES
CSBA: http://www.csba.org
California Department of Education, Office of School Transportation: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/tn
U.S. Department of Education, Family Policy Compliance Office: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco
Policy NAPA VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
adopted: December 19, 1996 Napa, California
revised: February 2, 2017
revised: June 13, 2019