HCPS School Bus Seat Belt Policy: HCPS requires that all elementary students riding a school bus equipped with seat belts wear them while the bus is moving.
Student RFID cards: HCPS Pupil Transportation is excited to announce RFID cards for all eligible bus riders at HCPS.
Driver Tablets: All HCPS buses will be equipped with tablets that will communicate with the Edulog Parent Portal App.
Bus safety: A team effort
More than 40,000 Henrico County Public Schools students are eligible to ride a school bus. Their safety is a top priority for the school division. A safe, pleasant ride helps students start and end the school day on a positive note and can have an enormous impact on a student’s attitude toward school.
Students, parents, bus drivers, bus assistants, principals and teachers must work together to ensure safe and pleasant bus transportation. A parent’s responsibility includes knowing and reinforcing standards of safety and behavior at the bus stop and on the bus. Disorderly students can threaten their own safety and that of others by distracting the bus operator. Disorderly and aggressive conduct also can make the bus ride to and from school an unpleasant and even intimidating experience for students. To help prevent this, buses may be equipped with audio and video recording devices.
Parents' responsibility also includes ensuring that their children have a safe and — especially for younger children — supervised place to go if school is closed, opens late or closes early due to adverse weather conditions, or if the bus is off schedule for some reason.
How parents and guardians can help
Every member of the community has a role in fostering safe, positive behavior at the bus stop and on the bus. As a parent, you can help preserve the safety of all students and ensure a smooth beginning and ending to the school day by making sure that your children:
Know and understand the rules for riding the school bus.
Understand that the school bus is an extension of school, and the same standards of behavior expected in the classroom apply to the bus as well.
Obey the instructions of the bus driver, just as they would follow the instructions of a teacher or school administrator.
Show consideration for other students on the bus and at the bus stop.
Speak respectfully to everyone, including their peers, without using vulgar language.
Know that fighting and other violence, harassment and bullying is strictly prohibited.
Show consideration for properties around the bus stop, refraining from littering or damaging any property.
Know the bus route number and ride the same bus daily.
Understand that riding the school bus is a privilege for most students, not a right, and that this privilege can be revoked temporarily or permanently because of misconduct.
Elementary school
Parents and guardians have a central role in making school bus trips safe for their young children. To fulfill this role, make sure they:
Know basic principles of traffic safety, such as how and when to cross the road safely.
Stay out of the road while waiting for the bus.
Are supervised by a parent or other adult while walking to and waiting at the bus stop, when possible. (At some bus stops, parents rotate this duty, while at others, parents escort their children to the bus stop and remain with them until the bus comes.)
Move toward the bus only after it stops, and the driver has signaled that it is safe.
Understand the importance of following the rules on the bus.
Middle and high school
Even older students need reminders about the rules of conduct and safety on school buses. Reinforcing the idea that they are responsible for their behavior and self-control on the school bus and at the bus stop can save them from making mistakes that could have severe and long-lasting consequences. To help protect your children, make sure they:
Treat others, including the bus driver, with respect.
Have a safe and highly visible area to wait at the bus stop, especially in the winter when the road may be slippery and dark.
Know and understand the consequences of certain behaviors, such as smoking and bringing prohibited materials (e.g., alcohol, drugs, weapons, explosives and glass containers) on the bus. In addition to being against school system regulations, possession of some of these materials is a criminal offense.
Refrain from any violent behavior or sexual harassment, which also may be illegal.
Open communication
Parents need to encourage their children to report any harassing, bullying or otherwise harmful behavior to the bus operator and/or the principal, as well as share this information with a parent. Henrico County Public Schools takes all such reports seriously and will take action to resolve these problems.
