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Edmonds School District

Safe Behavior For Riding the Bus


Safe Behavior For Riding the Bus 

We are pleased to be transporting your student. Please help us keep your student safe by careful attention to the below guidelines. If you have questions, please contact us.

Guidelines for Younger Students

For younger students, please:

  • Train your student to recognize their bus stop.

  • Train your student not to leave the bus anywhere except their assigned bus stop.

  • If you plan to meet your student at the bus stop, train them not to leave the bus if you are not there.

  • Attach a tag to your student’s backpack which includes your student’s name, route number, and stop description.

The Most Important Safety Expectations for Bus Riding

Students are expected to conduct themselves in a way that supports safety while riding the school bus.

The following three primary safety expectations summarize the behavior necessary to maintain safe transportation. These expectations will be posted in each school bus.

  1. Follow the school bus driver’s directions.

  2. Sit at all times.

  3. Speak quietly with an indoor voice.

The Full List of Safety Expectations

  1. Students are expected to wait for the school bus driver’s signal before crossing the road at the bus stop. Students are expected to cross in front of the bus and never behind the bus. When crossing to the far side of the road, students are expected to wait for the driver’s signal, stop at the center line of the road, look both ways, then proceed across the road when signaled to do so by the school bus driver.

  2. Students are expected to approach the school bus only when it is stopped.

  3. Students are expected to keep distance between themselves and the school bus except when boarding and exiting the school bus.

  4. Students are expected to be silent when the bus is stopped at a railroad crossing.

  5. Students are expected to ride the school bus to and from the school bus stops to which they are assigned. Students are expected to present to the school bus driver a signed pass from the school office if the student is to go to a stop to which he or she is not assigned.

  6. Students are expected not to eat or drink while riding the bus to and from school, except when a District health plan states otherwise.

  7. Students are expected to keep the bus free of garbage.

  8. Students are expected to put windows no more than half-way down. Students are expected not to put anything out of school bus windows.

  9. Students are expected to follow their school’s rules for the use of electronic devices while riding the school bus. If an electronic device causes a distraction or other problem, the student will be expected to put the electronic device away. No electronic device is to be operated such that it is audible to other students or to the driver.

  10. A student may be assigned a seat by the school bus driver. Students are expected to sit in their assigned seats.

  11. Passengers in school buses equipped with seat belts shall wear them, properly adjusted, whenever the school bus is in motion.

  12. Students are expected not to bring items on the bus which are heavy, sharp, bulky, or otherwise hazardous.

  13. Students are expected not to bring any forms of animal life (except service animals), firearms, weapons, breakable containers, flammables, and any other articles which could adversely affect the safety of the school bus and passengers on the school bus.

  14. Students are expected not to use tobacco or vaping products on the school bus.

  15. Students are expected not to bring drugs on the school bus.

  16. Students are expected to keep the bus aisle clear.

  17. Students are expected to keep emergency exits clear and free of items like backpacks.

  18. Students are expected not to change seats except with the permission of the school bus driver. No passenger is to change seats while the bus is moving.

  19. Students are expected to follow emergency exit procedures.

  20. Students are expected to identify themselves accurately by name to the school bus driver the first time they are asked.

  21. Students are expected to use respectful words and to not use profanity or other disrespectful, harmful, demeaning, or inappropriate words.

  22. Board and exit the bus in single file. Use the handrail.

  23. Students are expected not to discharge deodorant, perfumes, or other sprays or materials which could cause an allergic reaction.

Guidelines for Communication with the School Bus Driver

The school bus driver has many safety-related responsibilities, especially while driving and while making school bus stops. The below guidelines will help facilitate communication.

  1. The best time for students to speak with the school bus driver is at school. If the topic is private, a student may speak with the driver after other students have left the bus in the morning or before other students board in the afternoon.

  2. Parents, guardians, and students may speak with the driver at the school bus stop. As the bus may be stopping traffic these conversations should be brief. Parents or guardians should stand at the door of the bus without boarding it when speaking with the driver.

  3. If a longer conversation is necessary, parents or guardians are welcome to call the transportation office.

  4. While riding the bus, if a situation needs to be addressed immediately, a student should raise their hand and tell the driver what is happening in a voice loud enough for the driver to hear.

We are deeply committed to the safety of your child as well as all our community’s children.

Thank you!