Transportation Policy
The Kauffman School’s transportation policies are intended to help students begin their days in a positive way and in a manner consistent with our school culture. The Kauffman School will provide bus transportation to students within the Kansas City Public School District boundary. In the event that a student has special needs that prohibit riding the bus or is in need of emergency transportation with approved documentation, the Kauffman School will arrange for taxicab transportation for the student.
*Please Note: For information regarding bus routes, bus status, late arrivals, concerns or complaints, or other general transportation questions, parents/guardians should contact Apple Bus at 816-252-8800.
Bus Route
The Kauffman School will work directly with the bus company to assign a route based on the address provided during enrollment. The bus company reserves the right to make reasonable accommodations for pick-up/drop-off within four (4) blocks of the student’s address. Door-to-door pick-up/drop-off will not be allowed except in the case of approved circumstances. Parents are responsible for any additional student transportation needs outside the normal and one alternate route. See alternate route requirements below.
Temporary Student Boarding
Parents are reminded that students are assigned to a specific bus and a specific bus stop. Your bus driver is not authorized to pick up or drop off students at other bus stops at any time. In a family emergency, the school principal or dean may issue a “one-day” afternoon emergency boarding pass for the student to be dropped at another location.
The vacation and work travel schedules of parents/guardians do not qualify under the provisions for the issuance of an emergency or a temporary boarding pass. The majority of our buses carry a full load of students. When a child stays with another family, the host family must agree to transport your child to and from the Kauffman School.
Special Need Students
Special need students must be met at the bus stop by a parent/guardian/responsible adult or responsible older sibling. If no parent or other authorized responsible person is available after a series of attempts to drop-off, the driver will contact the Kauffman School and Operations office and the students will be returned to the Kauffman School.Alternate Bus Route
Students may only ride the bus to which he/she has been assigned unless an alternative bus stop request has been approved. The Operations office will approve requests in childcare or shared custody situations provided the following criteria are met:
Requests must be for a set schedule for the entire school year and include day care placements before and/or after school (exception: shared custody situations)
- Stop must be within attendance area
- Change cannot result in overcrowding of a bus
- Students must be within a safe walking distance from the established stop (within a four (4) block radius from address provided)
- For shared custody, both parents’ address must be registered with the Kauffman School for transportation
- Requests for alternate bus stops must be renewed annually
- Requests will not be approved for student employment, medical appointments, religious instructions, scouts or any other activity
- For emergency situations, please call the Kauffman School.
Walking to School
Students are allowed to walk to and from the Kauffman School, provided the school has received written notification from the parent(s).
Communications with Bus Drivers
If parents/legal guardians should have any issues or concerns and need to speck with your student’s driver, it is best to contact the Operations office at (816) 268-5660 to schedule a time to discuss your concerns. If you need to approach the bus, please do not step into the bus but instead signal to the driver you would like to talk and proceed to the driver’s side window. For the safety of all bus riders, our drivers are instructed to close the entrance door when approached and direct you to their side window. Keep in mind the bus has other stops and a schedule which limits the driver’s available time at individual stops. If parents want to deliver a note to the school bus driver, they may give the note to their child to give to the driver.
Parents/Legal Guardians Entering a School Bus
Parents/legal guardians are only authorized to enter and ride a school bus when they are chaperoning a school-sponsored trip and are approved by the Kauffman School. Under Missouri Law, unauthorized entrance on a school bus is trespassing. For the safety of the students we transport, the Kauffman School supports this law and has posted warnings on all buses.General Bus Rules
Bus transportation is considered a privilege and as such, it can be taken away from students who fail to demonstrate appropriate behavior on the buses. When riding on the Kauffman School bus, students are expected to conduct themselves in an orderly manner. The bus driver or monitor has been instructed to maintain discipline. The following rules apply when riding the Kauffman School bus:
- Students should be on time and standing at the bus Buses will not wait.
- Students must get on / off the bus at their assigned bus
- Students shall listen to the bus driver or monitor for
- No eating or drinking on the
- Students shall remain seated and faced forward until the bus completely stops at their bus
- Drivers may assign seating to students as The initial assignment may come from the Kauffman School.
- Any item which interferes with the welfare and safety of students and staff is not allowed on the This includes glass containers, skateboards, balloons, music players, electronic tablets, animals, large packages or large musical instruments.
- Students shall not use any electronics or mobile phones on the
- Students shall load and unload in an orderly manner.
- Students are to ride their assigned bus at all Parents must call by 12:00 pm if a student is to ride the bus with another student. The Kauffman School will approve the change if there is space on the bus.
- All Kauffman School policies prohibiting alcohol, tobacco and other drugs apply to all bus
- All Kauffman School policies prohibiting fighting, weapons, threats to staff, and vandalism apply to all bus
- Any misconduct that would result in a suspension discipline in the Kauffman School building will be addressed in the same manner if it happens on the bus.
Students who fail to observe school bus rules or fail to contribute to a safe transportation environment will be subject to disciplinary action, including but not limited to, suspension of the privilege of riding the bus. All bus suspensions may include field trips and extra-curricular trips of any type.
School rules and regulations not specifically articulated above still apply while students are on the bus. Students who continue a pattern of inappropriate behavior on the bus are subject to long-term suspension of bus riding privileges at the discretion of school leadership.
The following activities may result in suspension from riding the school bus for a length of time to be determined by the Dean of Students, Principal or Chief Executive Officer:
- Repeated refusal to follow directions from an adult on the
- Moving from seat to seat or moving out of one’s seat prior to disembarking from the bus or refusing to sit in an assigned seat.
- Pushing, fighting, pretend fighting, or otherwise endangering the well-being of any other student or students on the bus or at the bus
- Throwing things inside, outside, or out of the
- Attempting to get off the bus at a stop other than the regular assigned stop.
- Swearing, yelling, passing lewd notes, or talking disrespectfully to others on the bus, including the bus driver and/or
- Vandalism of bus property, including, but not limited to, graffiti, drawing, cutting, sticking adhesives or gum, or any other destruction of bus or student property of any kind. Any vandalism will be subject to the School’s Restitution Policy.
- At a minimum, instances of serious misbehavior on the bus will be strictly enforced as listed Kauffman School officials have the right to escalate the consequence to any stage or to invoke other disciplinary measures if deemed necessary to secure the safety of all children.
In the occasion that a student engages in serious bus misbehavior, the student will be issued a consequence according to the below schedule.
Tier 1 Offenses
Tier 2 Offenses
Tier 3 Offenses
Tier 4 Offenses
In the case of a bus consequence, the parent/guardian will be contacted via phone and written notification regarding the reason for consequence and the time during which the consequence is to be served. The parent/guardian may be required to attend a conference with a member of the Kauffman School administration before the student may resume riding the bus. In the case of a suspension, the student will not be permitted to board the bus at the morning stop, or to board the bus at the Kauffman School during dismissal. The parent/guardian will need to make to make arrangements for the student’s transportation to and from the Kauffman School during the period of the suspension.
Kauffman School rules and regulations not specifically articulated above still apply while students are on the bus.