1. Pupils in grades 1, 2, and 3 may be required to walk one mile to school, or to a school bus stop.

2. Pupils in grades 4 and 5 may be required to walk one and a half miles to school, or to a school bus stop.

3. Only pupils covered under the above regulations are eligible to ride a school bus.

4. Special permits may be issued on a temporary basis.

5. The privilege for a child to ride a school bus may be revoked for unsatisfactory conduct on a bus.

A. Bus routes shall be established by the Assistant Superintendent, subject to review by the Rochester School Board Special Services Committee. Routes will be over the most direct roads possible for bus travel to serve those entitled to transportation service. Routes will be designed to employ as nearly as possible the full carrying capacity of each bus trip. New routes will be established only when full capacity of the trips on existing routes have been reached or is imminent.

B. School schedules may be adjusted to allow maximum utilization of each bus in the system by alternating elementary and high school trips with the same fleet of buses. Private school trips will be integrated with public school trips where possible.

C. Bus stops shall be established under the direction of the Assistant Superintendent in cooperation with the operator of the bus system. A bus stop so established will be designated as authorized when the School Board has approved its designation as such. The operator may not permit his drivers to load or unload pupils at other than authorized bus stops.

D. Authorized bus stops shall be located at convenient intervals in places where pupils may be loaded/unloaded, cross highways and await arrivals of buses with the utmost safety permitted by highway conditions. The number of bus stops on each trip shall be limited, consistent with the policy stated as to service, so as to enable buses to maintain a reasonable average speed.

1. Students are NOT permitted to smoke on any school bus at any time. This includes all charter trips.

2. Students are NOT permitted to use any profane language. Obscene gestures, excessive noise, fighting, wrestling, or acts of physical aggression will not be tolerated.

3. Students MUST keep head, hands, feet, etc. inside the school bus at all times.

4. Once a student has boarded the bus, he/she may not get off except at his/her destination.

5. Students may ride only on the bus to which they have been assigned.

6. Students must be seated and are not permitted to change seats when the bus is in motion, or to annoy other riders on the bus.

7. Students MUST stay in their seat until the student has reached their designated stop, AND the bus has come to a complete stop. Emergency doors are for emergencies only.

8. Students need to take a seat promptly when getting on the bus.

9. The law allows and students are expected to sit 3 passengers per seat.

10. Students are NOT permitted to eat food or drink beverages on the bus.

11. Students are NOT permitted to mark up or deface the bus in any way.

12. Students and their parents will be held responsible for any and all damage to the bus.

13. Students may NOT throw things in the bus, at the bus, or out of the bus.

14. Students must always cross the street in front of the bus.

15. Students must be at their bus stop before the bus arrives. The driver will not wait at the bus stop for students who are not at the bus stop.

16. The driver is authorized to assign seats to any student at any time.

17. Anything that would create a safety hazard for the passengers, or the vehicle, will not be permitted.

18. The school bus driver is in complete charge of the school bus and the students must follow the directions given by the driver.

19. Only authorized riders will be permitted on the buses.

20. Students walking on the roadway to a bus stop should always walk on the left of the roadway on the shoulder of the road facing traffic and shall not run alongside the bus when it is moving.

21. Where a bus travels both ways on any given road, pick-ups will be made on both sides of the road. If the bus travels only one way on a road, pupils will wait on their own side of the road until the bus comes to a complete stop. At that time, the pupils will cross in front of the bus while the red flashing lights are blinking.

22. Students crossing the roadway to board a bus shall walk, not run.

23. Students shall not place lunch boxes or other objects in the aisle of the bus.

24. There will be no liquor or drugs of any kind on the bus.

25. There shall be no throwing of snowballs or other objects at school buses at any time.

26. No student shall be put off the school bus while traveling to and from school. Parents shall be notified and the daily trip completed before the student can be removed from the transportation service.

27. The school bus is an extension of the school, and all school rules and regulations which pertain to student conduct in the schools are applicable to student conduct on a school bus.

28. Failure to abide by these rules will mean:

A. A written warning notice will be issued by the school bus driver to the student and the student's parents with a copy for:

a. The School Bus company;
b. The School Principal;
c. The Assistant Superintendent of Schools.

B. The School Principal will have a conference with the student.

C. The Assistant Superintendent will verify that the parents received the written warning notice and will seek parent support for student behavior improvements.

Further rule violations may mean:

D. A personal conference with the student, parent, School Principal, and Assistant Superintendent.

E. Suspension from riding the school bus: The Assistant Superintendent will make the decision to suspend a student from riding on the school bus (N. H. - R.S.A. 189:9-a) based upon the recommendations received from the School Bus Driver, School Bus Company, School Principal, and/or others close to the situation. The suspension will be for a period of time appropriate for the rule violation with consideration being given to the circumstances of each individual student. Suspensions may be for one day, two days, or up to twenty days. Suspensions beyond twenty days must be by School Board action.

For severe rule violations:

F. The Assistant Superintendent may immediately suspend a student from riding on the school bus.

G. Referral to the School Board Discipline Committee:
May be made for recommendations to the full School Board for extended suspension, or expulsion from riding on the school bus.

H. Referral to the School Board:
Referrals to the full School Board shall come through the School Board Discipline Committee and may be made for action on recommendations of extended suspension, or expulsion from riding on the school bus.