School Bus Program

Policy

The purpose of this policy is to outline the specific roles and responsibilities for schools involved in the provision and management of the School Bus Program (SBP).

Summary

• Parents/carers have primary responsibility for transporting their children to and from school.
• The School Bus Program assists families in rural and regional Victoria by transporting students to school.
• The program services both government and non-government schools.
• School principals must ensure SBP services provided to students at their school are managed in accordance with this policy and the guidance.
• The Department of Transport and Planning administers the SBP in accordance with this policy and the guidance, through contractual arrangements with bus operators.
• The Student Travel Assistance Portal is being progressively rolled out to all SBP networks to ensure the fair and equitable application of the SBP.

Details

Schools must ensure School Bus Program (SBP) services are managed in accordance with the requirements in the Guidance tab.

SBP services are coordinated by a coordinating school, with the principal of that school being the coordinating principal. The coordinating principal is responsible for the SBP services within a particular area or network. All other schools in that area are referred to as client schools. Both coordinating schools and client schools have responsibilities under this policy and the guidance.

The Department of Education (DE) is in the process of rolling out the Student Travel Assistance Portal to all SBP networks. The Student Travel Assistance Portal will remove some of the administrative responsibilities of coordinating and client schools including collecting and processing application forms, maintaining bus rolls and remitting bus fares to the department. Where required, transport decisions for travel applications in the Student Travel Assistance Portal will be made in conjunction with the coordinating principal. More information about the Student Travel Assistance Portal is provided under Administration of the School Bus Program.

Co-ordinating principals must:

1. appoint a member of their school staff to be the bus co-ordinator, unless coordinating the bus services themselves
2. distribute information to families and client schools about SBP services running in the area they are coordinating
3. collect application forms from client schools and assess eligibility, including whether an applicant who is otherwise ineligible falls within a special category that permits them to use a SBP service
4. apply priority of placement where capacity on a SBP service is limited
5. maintain, and provide to bus operators, relevant information about SBP services including the bus roll (i.e. the list of passengers travelling on each SBP service), emergency information, seat allocations, route maps, timetables and standards of behaviour
6. ensure students are aware of the conditions of travel (set out in the application forms) and respond to incidents of inappropriate behaviour on buses
7. ensure families and students using the bus service are informed about how to raise any worries or concerns about their safety on SBP services with school staff
8. notify DE if students are regularly required to stand up in 80 km speed zones
9. report to the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) operational issues with a bus service including driver conduct issues (other than those relating to incidents, disclosures or suspicions of child abuse, which are addressed in section 10 below)
10. act on any incidents, disclosures or suspicions of child abuse:
    1. follow the Managing and Reporting School Incidents policy, including making a report to the Incident Support and Operations Centre (ISOC)
    2. notify the Student Transport Unit (STU) so that the STU can contact DTP to ensure DTP requires the bus operator to take appropriate steps in response to the incident (which may include reporting the matter to the Commission for Children and Young People under the Reportable Conduct Scheme)
    3. notify the principal of the relevant client school that the student attends
    4. follow advice from STU or other relevant department area on additional required actions
11. report to DTP, STU and client schools any variations to services
12. escalate to STU circumstances which, in the coordinating principal’s view, may establish grounds for additional services, retention of services proposed to be removed, or modifications to services
13. check a bus operator’s quarterly claim for payment and either:
    1. endorse the accuracy of the claim and return it to the bus operator (who submits it to DTP), or
    2. address any inaccuracies with the bus operator
14. notify client schools, operators and families in advance of when bus services will not be running.

If required, bus captains may be appointed by the coordinating school to assist bus drivers in modelling and monitoring student behaviour.

Client schools must:

1. distribute information to families upon enrolment or other inquiry, about SBP services running in the area
2. collect application forms from students at their school and wanting to access a SBP service
3. forward completed application forms to the coordinating school. Applications for bus travel in the next enrolment year must be forwarded to the coordinating school by the end of Term 3. If new families enrol at the school after this time, client schools must forward the completed applications to the coordinating school as early as possible and apply priority of placement
4. collect fares from students at their school who are fare paying travellers
5. ensure supervision of students getting on and off buses at their school.

Definitions

Bus operator
For the purposes of the SBP, a bus operator is a company or sole trader who is contracted by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) to operate a school bus service along a specified route. Bus operators must be accredited with Safe Transport Victoria and meet safety obligations under the Bus Safety Act 2009.

Client school
A client school is a school whose students use school buses provided under the SBP but the school does not manage the bus service (this is the responsibility of the coordinating school).

Client school principal
The principal of a client school.

Coordinating principal
The principal of a coordinating school. The responsibilities of a coordinating principal are often delegated to a school bus coordinator.

Coordinating school
A school which is responsible for the management of the local bus network in the SBP.

DE or the department
The Department of Education.

DTP
The Department of Transport and Planning.

PTV
Public Transport Victoria.

School bus network
A school bus network is made up of all the services coordinated by a particular school. The network has one coordinating school and, where applicable, numerous client schools.

Student Transport and Allowances Branch
The Student Transport and Allowances Branch is made up of two units:

• the Conveyance Allowance Unit (CAU), and
• Student Transport Unit (STU)

STU
The Student Transport Unit within the department.

Related policies

• Buses – Owned, Hired or Chartered by a School
• Child Safe Standards
• Conveyance Allowance Program
• Duty of Care
• Private Car Use
• Protecting Children – Reporting and other Legal Obligations
• Students with Disabilities Transport Program
• Traffic Management
• Vehicles (including Buses) – Owned or Hired by a School

Relevant legislation

• Bus Safety Act 2009 (Vic)
• Bus Safety Regulations 2020 (Vic)
• Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic)
• Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic)
• Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic)
• Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)
• Health Records Act 2001 (Vic)
• Ministerial Order 1359 – Implementing the Child Safe Standards – managing the risk of child abuse in schools and school boarding premises (PDF)
• Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic)
• Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic)
• Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic)