Transportation Department
Welcome to the Chatham Central School District Transportation Department webpage. If you have any questions about bus routes or other Transportation Department related issues, please contact Larry Dreher, Director of Transportation Services, at 392-2415.
Childcare Transportation Requests
If you wish to request transportation to a childcare location for next year, you must submit a Childcare Transportation Request Form by April 1, 2010. Please click here to print and complete this form. The form is also available in each school office.
Private School Transportation Requests
Families living in the Chatham Central School District who plan to have their children attend a non-public school for the 2010-2011 school year must submit their transportation requests to the District’s Transportation Department no later than April 1, 2010. A request must be submitted for each child who may be attending a private school. Requests may be withdrawn later, if necessary. Students currently attending a local non-public school may obtain applications from their school. Applications may also be obtained from the District’s Transportation Department or District Office. Questions should be directed to the Transportation Department 392-2415.
By Order of the Board of Education
March 2, 2010
Diane T. Malecki
District Clerk
Chatham Bus Route Information
This year, Chatham School District will be mailing bus route and bus stop information home to parents at their child’s primary address that is on file at the school. Bus routes will not be published in the newspaper as in the past. Parents should expect to receive a mailing prior to the start of school.
ONE-BELL QUESTION & ANSWER UPDATE
September 18, 2009
August 11, 2009
Important Information Regarding the One-Bell Transportation System
Click here for the letter sent home to parents
Click here for Q and A regarding the One-Bell
About Chatham's Bus Transportation
Last school year, Chatham Central School District transported more than 1,400 students over 495,000 miles. The safe transportation of our children is of utmost importance and requires the understanding and cooperation of parents, children, bus drivers as well as school district staff and faculty. Rules for student behavior on school buses are established solely for the safety of our children. Parents must stress upon children to follow these rules for their own safety and that of the entire bus. Bus drivers have their hands full. They must operate the bus safely in traffic under varying weather conditions with as many as 50 or more students behind them. Loud and disorderly behavior distracts the driver and can pose serious safety problems. Anyone with questions concerning bus rules for students may obtain copies from the bus driver or a school principal.
The Chatham Central School District has posted the 2007-2008 bus routes for the district at each school. Bus routes and stops are reviewed annually to determine the safest and most efficient routing, given existing regulations, policies, and fiscal constraints. It is not possible for all children to travel an equal distance to and from the bus stop. Within the Chatham School District, regular bus stops are established no more than one mile (two miles maximum for late bus) from the end of a child's driveway. The natural consequence of safe, efficient and economical routing of school buses is that some children will travel greater distances than others but that no child will be required to travel over one mile between his home and his regular bus stop. The safety of children going to and from bus stops is the responsibility of the parents, just as it is for those children who live within one mile from school.
All of the District's school bus drivers make every effort to maintain the time schedule for their assigned routes. Traffic, weather and road conditions along with a variety of other factors occasionally cause variations in the bus schedule. It is important for parents to talk to their child's bus driver directly, to determine the most consistent pickup and drop off times at their child's bus stop. Considering the possible variations that can cause a bus to deviate from its schedule by a few minutes one way or another, students should be at their bus stop at least five minutes before the scheduled pickup time. This will ensure that they do not miss the bus if it is running slightly ahead of schedule. Additionally, all children should wait at the bus stop in an orderly manner, in an area clearly visible to the approaching bus driver.
Kindergartners starting school for the first time pose a special safety concern. Therefore, a parent or guardian must be visibly present at the bus stop when a child is brought home. If a parent or guardian is not present at the bus stop, the child will not be dropped off but returned to the elementary school.
To make a request for a student to ride a different bus route or to be picked up or dropped off at a different bus stop, parents must send a written note to the school office. Changes should be limited to emergencies. All destination changes must be at an approved bus stop.
Requests for children dropped off at a different destination for childcare purposes must be consistent on a daily basis and be at an established bus stop. Children who are not residents of the Chatham School District are not allowed to ride district school buses without prior written approval of the Transportation Department.