Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year.
As the first day of school approaches, please be advised of important transportation information. Today all transportation schedules and bus stop locations have been added to your Student Demographics page in our Student Information System (Aspen). Please remember during the first week of school usually results in transportation delays. Also, it is important to remember that our elementary students are just learning their bus numbers, and drivers may be completing new runs. A delay at one school usually results in delays in subsequent runs of that bus.
Student Eligibility
Student eligibility is based on the School Committee BPS Transportation Policy.
Students are assigned specific bus numbers and bus stops, all monitors will be taking attendance for seat assignments. Students may only ride the bus and use the bus stop that they are assigned. BPS determines the bus stops based on safety conditions: line of sight, ability to pull in safely and out of pickup points/traffic, available turn-around if necessary, route to/from the bus stop from the student's residence, neighborhood student population, the distance between stops and efficiency of time and resources.
•Eligibility for students in K-5 is ¾ mile from their school.
•Eligibility for students in grades 6-12 who live more than 1.3 miles from the school attended will be eligible for transportation.
•In order to determine if your child is eligible to receive bus transportation please access the Student Information System (Aspen)
•Once in Aspen, click on “Family,” then your child’s name, then “Demographics” should be the first tab you can view. (Tutorial Student Demographics page in Aspen)
•From the Demographics page, you can access information regarding your child’s eligibility, bus number, stop and estimated pick up and drop off time.
•If you have difficulty logging in to Aspen, or do not have login information, please contact X2help@barringtonschools.org
Bus Stop Safety Requests
Submit all Bus Stop Safety Requests to the Transportation Coordinator who will follow BPS District Transportation Policy. Initial appeals of the decisions from the Transportation Coordinator are submitted to the Director of Finance, who will consider safety or special considerations. Appeals of the decisions of the Director of Finance will be reviewed by the Superintendent of Schools. The Superintendent of Schools will issue a written decision within 10 Business Days; if there is a safety concern that requires a Safety Team evaluation, a written decision will be issued within 20 Business Days. All decisions of the Superintendent are final. As is the practice in Rhode Island, appeals of final decisions may also be brought to the Rhode Island Department of Education
Traffic Safety
It is very important for drivers to pay attention to their surroundings, especially at the start of the school year. Traffic increases in town and around our schools before and after school, as school buses pick-up and drop-off students, students ride bikes, student drivers commute to and from school, and families pick-up and drop-off their children at school.
Diving Your Child to School
For the safety of our students, follow the specific drop-off and pick-up procedures communicated by your school principal.
Do not park in zones designated “no parking”.
Do not drop-off or pick-up children across the street from the school.
Always consider carpooling, as a means to reduce the number of vehicles at the schools
Sharing the Road with Pedestrians
Always stop for the school crossing guards and yield to pedestrians crossing the crosswalk.
Do not block crosswalks with your motor vehicle when stopped, as this can force pedestrians to go around you placing them in the path of moving traffic.
Take extra care to look out for children in school zones and in all residential areas.
Never pass a vehicle stopped for pedestrians
No matter who has the right of way, always use extreme caution to avoid striking pedestrians.
Sharing the Road with School Buses
It is illegal to pass a school bus that is stopped to load or unload children. We have instructed our drivers and our Transportation Company to report all moving motor vehicle violations to our Transportation Coordinator who will forward them to the Barrington Police Department.
If a bus has yellow or red lights flashing and the stop arm is extended, traffic must stop.
If a bus is stopped to load or unload children, never pass from behind or from either direction, even if you're on an undivided road
If you are driving behind a bus, allow a greater following distance than if you were driving behind a car. It will give you more time to stop once the yellow lights start flashing.
Stop far enough behind a bus to allow students the space they need to safely enter and exit the bus.
Be alert; children often are unpredictable, and they tend to ignore hazards and take risks and may rush to or from a school bus
Sharing the Road with Bicyclists
Be extra vigilant in school zones and residential neighborhoods.
Watch for bikes coming from driveways or behind parked cars.
Check side mirrors before opening your door.
When passing a bicyclist leave 3-feet between your car and the cyclist.
Watch for bicyclists turning in front of you without looking or signaling.
Please note, the most common cause of bicycle collision is a driver turning in front of a bicyclist.
Have a great school year.