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Transportation

The Barrow County Schools Transportation Department makes available school bus service for more than 12,000 students enrolled in Barrow County Schools who reside in the school district of the school they are attending.  School transportation is provided in conformance with pupil transportation policies and procedures established by the State Board of Education and the Barrow County Board of Education.

The school system operates over 100 buses serving more than 204 routes and covering more than 8,748 miles daily.  That’s 43,740 miles per week, 189,540 miles per month and 1,574,640 miles per school year. Most drivers have an elementary school route and middle, high school route.  Some drivers, such as our Special Needs drivers, may serve several different schools in both their morning and afternoon routes.

Route Information:

• Buses shall not be routed down a street or highway that does not afford a satisfactory turnaround or is otherwise unsafe for bus travel.
• Buses are not to be routed on private property (this includes most mobile home parks and apartment complexes).
• The Director of Transportation may make an adjustment in bus stop location, if warranted, to eliminate unsafe or hazardous conditions.
• School bus routes are established during the summer before school starts each year.
• Routes will be adjusted as needed after school begins to make the routes effective and efficient.
• Bus stops on the routes are not always the same as the previous year.
• Safety of bus riders is always our greatest concern.

Parents should:

• Review bus safety rules with your child and stress the necessity of observing them.
• Make sure your child is at the bus stop five minutes early.  Never be late.  Haste increases the chance of accident.
• Remind your child to walk on the shoulder of the road on the way to the bus stop, where possible, and not on the traveled portion of the road.
• Remind your child to wait in a safe place, well off the road, until the bus comes to a stop.
• Students should not move toward the bus until the bus and all traffic have stopped.  Students should stop and look before crossing the road when preparing to board or depart the bus.  It is very important to look - do not expect approaching traffic to stop. 

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School transportation is a privilege and to maintain this privilege, a student must abide by established bus conduct rules.  A pupil's transportation privilege may be suspended or revoked if conduct creates a disruption or safety hazard on the school bus.  The principal or his/her designee handles all disciplinary action taken for misconduct on the school bus.

Only authorized personnel are allowed aboard a school bus.  Authorized personnel include the driver, transportation department employees, pupils, approved school system personnel, chaperones, and law enforcement officers.

Written authorization from a parent, with the signature of a local school administrator must be presented to the bus driver in order for a student to leave the school bus at any stop other than his/her regular stop.

On occasion a pupil may ride on a bus that they are not regularly assigned if there is space available and the pupil has written authorization from a parent signed by a local school administrator.