Bussing

Southland Transportation provides bussing for most of our students who are bussed to or from school. A few students are provided transportation directly by Foothills Academy staff using one of our school vans.

To ensure a positive trip, make sure that your child is at the bus stop five minutes before pickup time.

For Students Riding Southland Transportation Busses

• Absences
  • Please phone Southland Transportation at 403-205-6688 if your child will not be on the bus in the morning.
• Track the Bus
  • Families can track their child’s bus online each day by registering at http://www.mybusstop.ca and following the prompts. A new registration code will be provided by the school each year when you get your child's route information in August.
• COVID-19 Protocols

Travelling on the school bus is an extension of the school day, and thereby safety protocols need to be maintained on the busses too.

• It is important that nobody gets onto the school bus with any COVID-19 symptoms. Parents will be required to conduct the COVID-19 checklist for symptoms every day before students get onto the bus.

• Masks are mandatory on the bus, for the entirety of the bus journey.

• There will be strict, documented seating arrangements on the bus, to support contact tracing and help with effective cohorting measures at school. Where there are students from the same home, they must sit together.

• All students will load and disembark the bus in the same way. The first students onto the bus will go to the back and load back to the front. When disembarking the bus, students will leave the bus front to back. This will prevent students from having to pass each other on the bus, and will allow for the identification of students who have been in contact with anybody who has a potential positive test of COVID-19. When loading onto the bus, students will wait in a designated loading area, to load in the right order. If any student riding the bus has a confirmed case of COIVD-19, students within two metres of the student on the bus seating arrangement (two seats ahead, two seats behind and one adjacent) will be considered to have been in contact and will require quarantining and COVID-19 testing.

Going to a Friend's After School (this is not allowed while COVID-19 protocols are in place)

• If your child has been invited to a friend's house and will need to ride a different Southland Transportation bus home than they normally ride, arrangements can be made if:
  • your child brings a written permission note to school with them
  • the note is stamped by our school receptionist in the main office
  • the stamped note is shown to the bus driver as the child gets on the bus
• To ensure the safety of students for the duration of their travel time and for insurance purposes, cameras will be recording the interior of the bus each day. This information will only be collected should an incident arise.

Please note the following bus rules:

• The bus driver is responsible for the safety of the students.
• The bus driver may assign a seat to each student. Students are to remain in their assigned seats for the travel duration unless directed by the bus driver to change seats.
• Apart from ordinary conversation, students are expected to observe classroom expectations on the bus.
• Students must remain in their seats until the bus has come to a full stop at the school or their drop-off point.
• Students must not discard materials of any kind in the bus, on the floor, or out the bus windows.
• Students must not extend arms or heads out of the bus windows.
• Bus routes are organized by region, therefore students across many grade levels will be on any given bus route. Student communication needs to be considerate for students of all grade levels.
• Students must observe the directions of the bus driver when leaving the bus. They must not cross a road until they have a clear view in both directions.
• Students who willfully damage the bus will be expected to pay for repairs.

If students are having continued challenges on the bus:

• The driver will talk to the child to find a solution.
• Should the problem persist, the driver will notify the parent and school coordinator who will pursue a solution with the student and family.