Red Hook Central School District

Students in grades 6 through 12 will be let off the bus without a parent or guardian at the stop. Students in grades pre-K through 5 will not be let off the bus unless their parent or guardian is at the stop. Let your driver know if there will be another person, unknown to the driver, who is going to pick up your child. If there is no one to receive your child, we will try to reach you by phone. If after contact has been made, or if contact cannot be made, and there is still no one available to receive your child they will be brought back to school for their safety, and you will be responsible for picking up your child.

Exception: Students in grades 3 through 5 may be dropped off alone without a parent or guardian present only when a “Drop-Off Alone” Permission Slip is filled out in advance. A copy of the ‘Drop-Off Alone” Permission Slip can be obtained by contacting the Mill Road Elementary School 3-5 Office at 845-758-2241 ext. 35010.

If your child misses the bus because they were not ready at the bus stop, it is your responsibility to take them to school. Do not attempt to catch up with the bus and have your child run up to the bus. This is unsafe and puts your child and all the other children on the bus in danger.

There are many reasons why your bus is running later than usual. Weather, traffic or mechanical problems can cause your bus to be late. If your bus is running more than 15 minutes later than it should, contact the transportation office at 845-758-2241 ext. 29010 and we will advise you on the status of your bus.

All bus times and route schedules will be established at the beginning of each school year and posted in the eSchoolData Parent Portal. 

Resident students attending public or non-public schools located within the school district may be provided transportation to and from a licensed day care and/or babysitter throughout the school week on a regular basis. Students will be permitted to be picked up at and/or dropped off at their residence (or alternate residence in the case of split households) on some days and one designated child-care location on other days, on a regular set schedule. The district will not honor request for busing to a child-care location outside district boundaries.

The district will honor requests for child-care transportation provided they are made no later than April 1 of the preceding school year. New district residents have 30-days after establishing residency to submit child-care transportation requests. Variances from scheduled transportation will not be considered on a day-to-day basis and, in the discretion of the district, may only be permitted if it results in a new regularly set schedule to and from a child-care location.

Careful consideration is given to a host of factors when deciding whether to open, close or delay the opening of a school day. In the event of inclement weather, the transportation director:

• Drives a specific subset of the roads in Dutchess and Columbia counties that are on the district's transportation routes
• Gathers information from town highway supervisors and their crews on road status and their timelines for plowing and sanding
• Consults with colleagues in neighboring school districts about their status and circumstances.  
• Checks for the forecast of a storm’s path, duration and intensity from the National Weather Service and AccuWeather
• Speaks with the Superintendent of Schools to make a decision

Once made, the decision is broadcast to the community using the district's website, social media and ParentSquare notification channels. ParentSquare messages generate text and email messages to all staff and parents/guardians/families using the contact information registered in the system.

On a normal day, the first bus leaves the transportation office to begin its route at approximately 6:30 a.m. If a delayed opening is in effect, the transportation director rechecks roads at 6:30 a.m., repeats his contacts with town highway superintendents, colleagues and the weather services, and confers a second time with the Superintendent of Schools. 

A final determination is made by approximately 8 a.m. to proceed with the delay or change to a closing for the day.

In the event of an early dismissal due to weather conditions, families will be notified via ParentSquare and posted on the district’s website and social media channels.

In the incidence of a school emergency closing, the alternate drop-off location provided on the transportation form completed at the beginning of the school year may be utilized.

District transportation services will be used to transport students to and from sports and filed trips when public funds are available and expended for such purposes. The district reserves the right to use vehicles other than school buses or to contract for outside transportation services when:

• private funds are used to sponsor an event
• a school bus is not available
• a school bus is inappropriate for the trip, (i.e.) ski club, music orchestra and class trips of substantial length.

When private funds are used to sponsor an event, such private organizations may use district buses with the approval of the Board of Education. Such organizations may use volunteers to drive school buses provided such volunteers are duly licensed, or may hire district transportation services at the contract rates. The district reserves the right to require private organizations to use district transportation services if it deems necessary.

Where intervening circumstances have made transportation back to the point of departure or to the appropriate school in the district impractical, a representative of the district shall remain with the student until such student’s parent or legal guardian has been contacted and the student has been delivered to his/her parent or guardian. The coach or chaperone must adjust the trip roster accordingly to account for students not utilizing District provided transportation.

Students may be transported by their parents or guardian to and/or from sports or field trips provided that the activity coordinator (i.e.) the coach, teacher or chaperone, receives written notice on a district-developed form from the parent or guardian in advance of the activity. The activity coordinator will adjust the trip roster accordingly to account for such students.

A student who wishes to be transported to and/or from a sports or field trip by someone other than the student’s parent or guardian must provide the activity coordinator with written notice from the student’s parent or guardian. The notice must be completed on a district-developed form in advance of the activity. The permission must specifically name the person who is authorized to transport the student. The notice must also include that the child will be transported by the other party to the activity, from the activity or both. This notice shall relieve the district from any liability based upon such transportation. Any person who is designated to drive a student who is not their own child must sign a consent form, in advance, accepting responsibility for the transportation of such students.