This form is only for students who will be riding a regular neighborhood bus to and from school. Families of students in special education programs, including preschool placements, DO NOT NEED to complete this form.

Please note that submitting this form does not guarantee transportation. It is used to determine eligibility for busing based on your home address. After submission, a member of our Transportation Team will EMAIL families with eligibility information and details about bus tag pick-up.

Important Reminders:

Bus ID cards will be mandatory for all students who ride buses to and from bus stops. No student will be allowed to ride a bus without a tag. (Special Education Door-to-Door students do not require tags)
Students in grades K through 2 require a parent/guardian/designee to receive them from the bus.
Bus stops and times are subject to change.
Pick-up times are estimates and may fluctuate slightly.
Students should be at the bus stop 10 minutes before the stop time and be prepared to wait 10 minutes after the listed pickup time.

Please call the office of student transportation if you have any questions.

Student Transportation Services

Students in grades K-5 qualify for transportation if the student
lives 1 or more miles from their neighborhood school.

Students in grades 6-8 qualify for transportation if the student
lives 1.5 miles or more from their neighborhood school.

Students in Special Programs – qualify if the student is
attending a program outside their residential school area.

Students on IEPs may have different transportation requirements that are not addressed by this transportation information.
The accommodations made for transportation for a student on an IEP will take precedence.

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FRPS Bus Expectations and Protocols

Student Bus Expectations

Fall River Public Schools Student Bus Expectations

Students should arrive at the bus stop 10 minutes before the scheduled pickup time. The driver is not permitted to wait for students.
Students must wait for the bus on the sidewalk at the designated bus stop until the bus comes to a complete stop.
Students are to remain seated until they reach their destination.
Students will need to board and leave the bus in a single file.
Students are not allowed to extend their hands or objects out of the bus windows.
Students are not allowed to eat or drink on the bus.
Students are not to take photos, videos, or use FaceTime while on the bus.
Students are not to throw trash or any other objects onto, off of, or inside the bus. (This will result in a bus suspension)
Students must not damage or deface the school bus or private property surrounding school bus stops.
Smoking, vaping, drugs, or alcohol are not permitted on the bus. (This will result in an automatic bus suspension)
Weapons or the ignition of matches, lighters, etc., are prohibited on the bus. (This will result in an automatic bus suspension or expulsion from the bus)
Fighting, vulgarity, distracting, unsafe, or aggressive behavior will not be tolerated on the bus.
Students are expected to be courteous and must follow the driver's or monitor's directions to ensure the safety of the ride.
Students will never use the rear emergency exit except upon the direction of the driver or monitor.

Bus ID Tag Protocol

All FRPS students who are assigned to a bus stop for transportation must obtain and display a current bus ID tag in order to ride the bus home from school. These tags are necessary for various reasons, including:

Identifying grade level (ability to get off the bus alone or requiring an adult)
Ensuring only qualifying students are riding (space is limited)
Assisting monitors in identifying students when returning them to school when a parent is not at the stop

*Please note that, for safety reasons, we will not leave any student at a bus stop on the way to school for failure to have a tag.

Bus monitors will remind tagless students before they arrive at school that, if a student does not have a tag, they must go to the office before school dismissal to secure a replacement or to call a parent to bring their tag.

Once a student has been issued their third replacement bus tag, the Transportation Office will be alerted. The parent/guardian will be notified that:

Their child has been issued four total bus IDs, and in the event they fail to bring one of the four to school, they will not be able to access transportation home at the end of the school day.
The next time the student arrives at school without a tag for the bus return home, it will be their obligation to arrange alternate transportation.
No other tags will be issued by the school. The Parent/Guardian will have to contact the Transportation Office at (508) 675-8330 to secure a replacement tag if the tags are lost.

Returned Bus Students

Effective 12/2/2024:

For safety reasons, students in Grades K through 2 at FRPS must be accepted off the bus at their designated bus stop by a parent, guardian, or authorized adult. Additionally, special education students in grades Pre-K through 5 who require door-to-door transportation must also be received by an authorized adult at their drop-off location.

For Special Education students in Grades 6 through 12, they may be allowed to exit the bus alone only if the Permission Form for Middle School and High School has been signed and returned. This form must be completed and signed each year. If the form has not been completed, then an authorized adult must be home to receive the student off the bus or van.

In the event that a parent, guardian, or authorized adult is not present at the student's designated bus stop or drop-off location at the end of the school day, the student will be transported back to one of the two designated school sites listed below by their school bus or van.

AM PreK students are returned to their school. PM and full day PreK students are returned on a case-by-case basis. Please call the Transportation Department if you have any questions.

All other returned students from Silvia, Kuss, Doran and Morton will be brought to Morton Middle School (Back/Cafeteria Entrance).

Returned students from Durfee, Letourneau, Fonseca, Talbot, Spencer Borden, Henry Lord, Greene, Viveiros, Watson, and Out-of- District schools will be brought to Durfee High School (Main Entrance).

We would like to inform you that bus students who are repeatedly returned to school due to the absence of a parent or guardian at the bus stop upon arrival will be subject to specific protocols. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Consequences for Returned Students

First occurrence - No action taken
Second occurrence - No action taken
Third occurrence - a 48-hour notice will be issued indicating that the student will be suspended from bus services for a period of three (3) days. Additionally, a warning will be provided stating that a fourth (4th) occurrence will result in the School Department filing a report with the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
Fourth occurrence - 48-hour notice of suspension from bus services for one week (5 school days), and the School Department will proceed with filing a report with DCF.
Fifth occurrence - A 48-hour notice will be issued stating that bus transportation will be suspended for the remainder of the school year.

Students who receive specialized transportation due to their disability or because of the location of their program and are repeatedly returned, the special education department will be notified, and they will reach out to the family on the fifth occurrence.

Bus Company Information

Amaral Bus Company
(508) 324-0551
Fisher Bus Inc.
(508) 673-0685
Tremblay Bus Co., Inc
(508) 675-0551
Whaling City Transit
(508) 679-0100
Town Taxi
(508) 673-9999
Greater Fall River SRTA
(508) 672-6071

Anti-Idling Law

Massachusetts General Law (MGL}, Chapter 90, Section 16A, 310 Code of Massachusetts Regulation (CMR), Section 7.11 and MGL, Chapter 111

"No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit the unnecessary operation of the engine of a motor vehicle while said vehicle is stopped for a foreseeable period of time in excess of five minutes."

Penalties range from $100 (MGL Chapter 90, Section 16A) to as much as $25,000 (MGL Chapter 111, Section 142A). Drivers and/or companies can be held responsible and local police have the authority to enforce the law among other officials.

What does this mean for our students and our buses?
School buses must load and leave school grounds within 5 minutes of the first student boarding the bus.

FRPS Transportation Department

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In This Section

Transportation

Deborah Carvalho

Director of Transportation Services

Transportation Forms

Student Release Forms

Middle & High School Permission to Deboard Bus

Are You Eligible for Busing? Request a Bus Pass.

If you haven't already done so and require transportation for your child, please fill out the transportation form as soon as possible to ensure they will have a seat for the first day of school. Please fill out the form ONCE per child.