REGION — Norma Jackman, transportation director for Regional School Unit 73 has provided important updates regarding student bussing for the upcoming school year.

School starts Aug. 30 for most students in Spruce Mountain schools. Freshman orientation is Aug. 29 and the high school needs to be contacted by Aug. 25 if transportation is needed. Drivers should be prepared to stop for buses picking up or dropping off students, such as this one picking up students on the first day of school last year on Old Jay Hill Road in Jay. File photo/Livermore Falls Advertiser

Expected Bus Behavior – Level I Behaviors: Be seated properly facing forward when the bus is moving. Quiet voices when approaching and stopped at railroad crossings. Do not exit the bus you have boarded. Always share seats with others. Speak quietly at all times. Use only appropriate language. Do not speak in a way that teases, hurts or harasses others. Keep the bus clean. No eating on the bus.  Drinking on the bus with a closed container with a tight cover and driver’s permission. Do not use cell phones, inappropriately this includes no videos or photos of self or others, no loud music from any electronic device, on the school bus during regular bus trips. Cell phones may be used with driver permission on all co-curricular trips.  Consequences of Level I Misbehavior Parental notification and one or more of the following: Warning. Possibly moved to the front of the bus or moved to another seat placement. Behavior contract.           Level II Behaviors: Keep hands, head and feet inside the bus. Do not throw any object on the bus or out of the bus. Do nothing to threaten the safety of others on or off the bus. Do not vandalize the bus or anyone’s personal property. Do not hit, punch, kick, or physically assault another student. Do not act in a disrespectful or defiant manner toward the bus driver. Do not use sexually explicit, inappropriate, or derogatory language or obscene gestures. Consequences of Level II Misbehavior or Continued Level I Misbehaviors: Parental notification and one or more of the following: One to five day bus suspension. Possible school suspension. Level III Behaviors: Possession or use of the following: Weapons. Matches or lighter. Controlled substance including drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Threaten or strike the bus driver. Consequences of Level III Misbehavior or Continued Level II Misbehaviors: Parental notification and one or more of the following: Five day or longer bus suspension. Up to ten day school suspension. Expulsion hearing. Contact with police.

Students from Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls attend Spruce Mountain Primary School in Livermore and the elementary, middle and high schools in Jay.

Bus route schedules are found on the RSU 73 website under departments and transportation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vMk0-hbMOfI_npsV3UL5ic6C3MLzyxu_wpp26Rytoz4/edit.

Most students return to school Wednesday, Aug. 30. Freshman orientation takes place on Tuesday, Aug. 29. Any freshman needing transportation that day must contact the high school by Friday, Aug. 25, Jackman wrote in an email Friday, Aug. 18.

Other questions the Livermore Falls Advertiser sent to Jackman and her responses on Aug. 18 are below.

Q: With all the washouts from recent storms, will that have any impact on picking up students in some towns, and if so, what will that look like?

“Myself and one of my staff went and rode the Macomber Hill and Woodman Hill roads [in Jay] this morning,” Jackman wrote. “We found safe turn-arounds for our buses to turn around until the roads are completed. I spoke with the road commissioner for Jay this morning. They are working diligently to get these projects completed which isn’t an easy task; there is a lot to do and get it done. Macomber Hill Road we will be going as far as the Begin Rd. to turn around and on the other end we will be turning around on the Farrington Rd.

“On Woodman Hill Road we will be coming in from Lomie Rivers Rd. and go that way to Woodman Hill and back down to Sheila’s Daycare from the closest turn around point. Please be patient and expect delays from the buses during a.m. and p.m. pick up times and drop offs until these roads are completed. Construction may cause delays for different reasons.”

The Jay road commissioner has been keeping the transportation department well informed of road closures and any delays, Jackman noted.

Q: Do you still need bus monitors and if so, could you please state the buses and towns they are needed for?

“We do still need bus monitors, in a perfect world I would like bus monitors on all our buses,” Jackman wrote. “I would like to have bus monitors on the buses with the most students which are bus 15, 16, 18,19, 22.”

Q: If the letter to parents has been completed – that was discussed at one of the last board meetings – could you please provide a copy of it?

“The parents received a letter home about dismissal at the end of the school year,” Jackman wrote.

According to the letter, “Spruce Mountain Primary School and Spruce Mountain Elementary School will no longer be able to accommodate bus changes on a daily basis. This will include changes for play dates, daycare to home changes or home to daycare changes, etc.”

Daily calls to make changes has become a huge issue at both schools, leading to an increase in possible errors with where children are going, the letter noted.

It continued, “A parent/guardian must greet the bus when your child is picked up or dropped off. Parents need to have an emergency contact if you are not going to be home, such as a neighbor or family member to get your child off the bus.”

The letter also asks to call the school office to report absences: Primary school 207-897-3355; elementary school 207-897-5719.

“Parents will need to watch the first week of school for the paperwork being sent home for bus rules and consequences,” Jackman wrote.  “I would like to see that all parents have a functional email in our school system so we can communicate with them through email. It is the best way for me to contact the parents/guardians.”

Q: If there is anything else that members of the community should know, please share that too.

“Yes, an adult needs to be visible to the bus driver from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade,” Jackman wrote. “If not present, at least open the door or wave out the window. If not, the student will be returned to their school for the parent or guardian to come pick them up.

“We need to know someone is home to retrieve the student off the bus. This was a common problem last school year. It delays the bus to get to the other students’ homes which causes unnecessary worry to others and delays the bus driver to go do their other jobs in the district they need to complete.”

Students should be at their assigned bus stops five minutes prior to pick up, Jackman noted.

“Please be patient the first week of school, as the bus drivers get adjusted to their routes and especially the first two days parents and guardians like to get photos of their littles getting off and on the buses,” she added.

The sidebar includes the School Bus Safety Code developed this August that will be sent home with students the first week of school.

Comments are not available on this story.

Related Stories