FILE: JCDAD

Cf: JDF

SCHOOL BUS CONDUCT

Each school bus driver shall distribute to each student at the beginning of the school year a form listing the regulations pertaining to pupils riding school buses. The form shall be signed by the pupil and parent to indicate that they are familiar with regulations therein, and returned to the driver. The driver shall maintain this documentation for the school year.

The principal shall assume full responsibility for discipline of pupils riding buses. The bus driver shall be responsible for maintaining proper conduct of all students who are riding the bus. Any disciplinary problems shall be reported by the driver to the principal of the school involved. It is the duty of the driver, in case of any infraction of rules by any student, to notify the principal of the school the student attends, by completing and submitting a School Bus Behavior Report. If possible, this must be done in person. It is the responsibility of the principal to determine necessary punishment to students violating school bus conduct regulations. The principal may:

1. Contact the parent and place the student on probation;

2. Suspend the student from bus or school, depending on the severity of the offense committed; or

3. Recommend expulsion from the school bus.

Any parent of a pupil suspended from riding a school bus shall have the right to appeal to the Superintendent, who shall conduct a hearing on the merits of the bus suspension.

A pupil damaging a school bus shall be subject to suspension from school. Any pupil suspended for damages to any school bus shall not be readmitted until payment in full has been made for such damage or until his readmittance is directed by the Superintendent.

At no time shall the bus operator assume authority for suspending bus privileges or taking such disciplinary action as requiring a pupil to kneel or inflicting corporal punishment. If the conduct of a pupil becomes such that his removal from the bus becomes essential, the driver shall discharge the pupil at the pupil's regular stop. A student riding a school bus shall never be unloaded along the highway except at his designated stop, unless he is endangering the lives of other children on the bus.

SUSPENSION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Suspension of students with disabilities shall be in accordance with policy JDF, Discipline of Students With Disabilities.

Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:223, 17:416; Bulletin 1191, School Transportation Handbook, Louisiana Department of Education.