Transportation Service Standards for the 2025-26 School Year

Northshore School District No. 417 is committed to providing safe, efficient, and cost-effective transportation services to our students. This commitment is guided by the following Transportation Service Standards:

Students are eligible for district transportation when the home address and school of attendance resides within their assigned school boundary area. Northshore School District will determine school boundary areas.

Transportation eligibility is based on the distance from a student’s home address to their school of residence:

a. Pre-School students who live more than .5 of a mile from their school of residence will be eligible for transportation services.

b. K-12 school students who live more than 1 mile from their school of residence will be eligible for transportation services.

Exceptions are allowed under the following circumstances:

a. Students who require specialized transportation services as determined by their Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) plans.

b. Students who qualify for transportation services under the McKinney-Vento Act and Foster Care eligible students.

District-arranged transportation will not be provided for those students who by parent or student have chosen to enroll in a school other than their assigned school or school of attendance.

Students who reside within the designated walk boundary are not eligible for district arranged transportation. Walk boundary distance will be determined by Northshore School District practice in accordance with WAC 392-141-340 and School Board Policies No. 8100 and No. 8110.

Exceptions are allowed under the following circumstances:

a. Students who require specialized transportation services as determined by their Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) plans.

b. Students whose walking route to/from school is on a public roadway and is determined, by the Transportation Department, as hazardous.

Transportation services are provided to students as determined by several factors:

a. Special education transportation services are provided to students requiring transportation separate from general education transportation as determined by the IEP and/or 504 plan.

b. Early learning (pre-school) transportation services are provided to students as determined by the IEP and/or 504 plan. Students must reside within their designated service area and outside of the .5 of a mile walk boundary.

c. Adult Transition Services are provided to students as determined by the IEP and/or 504 plan. Students must reside within their designated service area to be considered.

d. Elementary Advanced Program (EAP) transportation services are provided to students attending their assigned EAP site. For more information regarding site placement please visit EAP Locations for 2025-2026

e. McKinney-Vento and Foster Care transportation services provided to students who qualify for services under the McKinney-Vento Act. The cost for this service is to be shared with the sending or receiving district. Since each circumstance will be unique, the following methods of transportation may include:

• Authorized School Bus
• Authorized School District Car/Van
• Authorized 3rd Party Company
• Local City or Metro Bus
• In Lieu of Contract or Mileage Reimbursement

Bus routes are designed with buses traveling on main arterials with students pick up/drop off location centralized. Students will be assigned to bus stops within the following guidelines:

a. Bus stops will be placed on public roadways and will not travel on private roadways and/or driveways.

b. Bus stops will generally be located at corners of intersections whenever possible.

c. Walking distance to bus stops will be one mile or less for students K-12 where feasible.

d. Bus stops will be no closer than 300-600 feet apart with the exception of hazards, speeds over 40 MPH, ditches, railroads.

e. New developments are subject to a safe walk assessment prior to development begins.

f. Weather-specific bus stops will be at the discretion of the Transportation Department.

g. Alternate snow routes for inclement weather will be posted on the Transportation website by November 1st.

Requests for bus stop location changes may be submitted to the Transportation Department by filling out the Bus Stop Change Request Form.

Bus stops will be modified only under the following conditions:

a. Safety concern - conditions at the established bus stop do not meet the bus stop selection criteria as defined by the district guidelines.

b. Students who do not use their assigned school bus may have their bus stop removed when doing so will result in a reduced operating cost

Bus routes will be designed to operate with travel times of 45 minutes or less where feasible. All other routes will be designed to operate with travel times of 60 minutes or less where feasible. Ride time is defined as the time the first student boards the bus until the bus arrives at school in the morning, or the time the bus leaves the school until the last student is dropped off the bus in the evening.

Exceptions are allowed under the following circumstances:

a. Students who require specialized transportation services outside of their school of attendance as determined by their Individualized Education Program (IEP) plan.

b. Students who qualify for transportation services under the McKinney-Vento Act and Foster Care whose current living address resides outside the school of attendance.

c. Students enrolled in secondary schools at ILHS and/or SAS.

d. Students enrolled in the EAP program.

The bus arrival/departure time window will be according to the attached Appendix A. The bus arrival and departure times may also be found on the District Transportation Department webpage at https://www.nsd.org/ourdistrict/departments/transportation.

Bus arrival times for High Schools are 20 minutes prior to the 1st bell and 5 minutes after the last bell. Bus arrival times for Middle School are 30 minutes prior to the 1st bell and 6 minutes after the last bell. Bus arrival times for Elementary Schools are 20 minutes prior to the 1st bell and 10 minutes after the last bell. Arrival and departure times for special education students receiving transportation will be the same as general education students unless specified differently by the student’s IEP or 504 plan.

The Transportation Department will assess space available based on the capacity of each bus. Capacity is defined as the number of students that can safely ride and varies based on the size of each bus.

The provision of space for available transportation will be allowed under the following conditions:

a. Space availability will be defined as four or more seats below capacity of the bus route in question beginning on the 1st school day in November.

b. Existing bus stops must be used.

c. The granting of space available will be at the discretion of the Transportation Department.

d. Granting of space available will not increase the cost to the district. If service levels change during the school year, authorization may be rescinded.

e. Large instruments or bulky items are not taken into consideration in determining if space is available. Each item is approved on a case-by-case basis depending on ridership, bus capacity and sufficient space for each student.

f. Heavy, sharp, bulky, and/or other articles which may be hazardous in the event of an accident, or an emergency stop shall not be transported unsecured in the passenger area of any school bus. Specific attention is directed to items such as skis, ski poles, vaulting poles, large musical instruments, riser platforms, etc. In no case will items be secured in such a manner as to impede access to any exit.

The student’s residential address is defined as the address on file at the school of attendance. Alternate service address requests will be considered after space availability has been established, as noted in section 9.

The district will assign transportation from one address in the morning and one address in the evening, provided the requested address qualifies under the eligibility criteria or approved custody documentation. Transportation will be considered when an existing service is available, or a stop can be established without increasing time or cost. The district will assign transportation from (in the morning) or to (in the evening) a maximum of two separate, alternate addresses.

Transportation service to/from an alternate address will be granted for the requested school year only. Parents/guardians must re-apply for consideration of continuation each year by completing the Transportation Inquiry Form, failure to complete this step will result in an automatic denial of request.

School may issue a temporary bus pass to students who (with parent/guardian consent) wish to use an existing bus stop on an infrequent basis provided there is established space available, and the request meets service guidelines. Bus stops are not added for this purpose.

Students residing at an out-of-district address who are approved to attend a Northshore school are not eligible for district-provided transportation.

Exceptions are allowed under the following circumstances:

a. Students who qualify for transportation services under the McKinney-Vento Act and Foster Care eligible students.

Exceptions to the Transportation Standards will be at the discretion of the Superintendent. These exceptions are called Legacy Agreements. Each Legacy Agreement will include a description of the exception as well as an end date.

Current Legacy Agreements:

a. Moorlands ES – 4th and 5th grade EAP students residing in the Arrowhead service area will continue transportation to Moorlands. Transportation Ends June 2025.

b. Sunrise ES – 4th and 5th grade EAP students residing in the East Ridge service area will continue transportation to Sunrise. Transportation ends June 2025.

c. Canyon Creek ES – 4th and 5th grade EAP students residing in the Westhill service area will continue transportation to Canyon Creek. Transportation ends June 2026.

d. Lockwood ES – 4th and 5th grade EAP students residing in the Frank Love service area will continue transportation to Lockwood. Transportation ends June 2026

e. Maywood Hills ES – 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade students qualifying for highly capable services in both math and reading will continue transportation to Canyon Creek. Transportation ends June 2028. 

f. Crystal Springs ES – 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade students qualifying for highly capable services in both math and reading will continue transportation to Canyon Creek. Transportation ends June 2028. 

g. Woodmoor ES - 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade students qualifying for highly capable services in both math and reading will continue transportation to Moorlands. Transportation ends June 2028. 

Transportation for school related activities or programs will be provided with the expectation that the requesting school will provide funding to cover the cost of the service.

The following guidelines will apply:

a. Field trip time requested must not conflict with regular to and from service. Each requesting school must refer to guidelines sent yearly specifying service window and costs.

If the Bus Stop Modification request has been denied there is an appeal process:

a. 1st appeal: Submit a request for review to the Driver Trainer.

b. 2nd appeal: Submit a request for review to the Transportation Manager

c. 3rd appeal: Submit a request to the Transportation Department Walk Committee. The Walk Committee consists of a designated Transportation staff member, designated security officer, designated school of attendance staff member, and designated community member.

The members of the Walk Committee will review and approve or deny the transportation request. The Transportation Manager will provide the parent/guardian with a written decision regarding the appeal.

For additional information or questions, please email transportation@nsd.org