Frequently Asked Questions

 

The parent should contact the Transportation District Coordinator responsible for their school to discuss their concern and receive a resolution.   Please be patient at the beginning of school due to the number of changes in schedules and also the number of calls being handled in the central transportation office and area offices.  The goal is to serve all customers in a timely fashion and with accuracy.  A listing of which Transportation Coordinator serves each school can be found on the Transportation website.  

 

 

 

Your child should arrive at the stop at least ten minutes before the regular arrival time of the bus. If there is a substitute driver, the times may not be absolutely consistent with the regular times. If the bus is late, ask your child to remain at the stop. Buses break down, roads are blocked, drivers become ill or have emergencies, but there will always be a bus at every stop. If the wait becomes extreme, please call your area transportation office.

 

 

 

School bus drivers can have the same reasons as motorists for being late. Traffic delays, weather conditions, accidents or driver’s illness are just a few reasons. School buses also have mechanical breakdowns or “no starts” that cause delays in picking students up on time. In cases where the regularly assigned bus or driver is unable to pick up students, a separate bus and driver are dispatched to pick up the students as quickly as possible. Please contact the transportation area office that serves your child's school.

 

 

 

Restriction of access to security videos is limited by the federal law.  The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is accompanied by a number of regulations that govern how FERPA is implemented.  If you follow the preceding links, you will find the information is quite lengthy.  Because of this, I will provide you with a summary regarding the release of security video.

If security videos are maintained by law enforcement, they are not considered educational records under FERPA.  However, if security videos are maintained by a school or district, then they are considered educational records.  Onslow County Schools maintains their own security videos, so they are considered educational records.  FERPA defines educational records as records that contain information directly related to a student that is maintained by an educational institution or a person acting for the institution.  Although "directly related to a student" is not defined in the Act itself, FERPA links the prohibition of disclosure of educational records to "personally identifiable information" contained in those records.  The Regulations that accompany FERPA provide that "personally identifiable information" is that which, alone or in combination with other information, "is linked or linkable to a specific student that would allow a reasonable person in the school community, who does not have personal knowledge of the relevant circumstances, to identify the student with reasonable certainty."  Photos or videos of students clearly fit within that definition.  Thus, assuming they are maintained by a school or district, photos or videos of students engaged in a school-related activity are educational records protected by FERPA.  Although I have not seen the video to which you are referring, I am assuming there are a number of other students on the bus who appear on the video, their images are considered educational records and as such, the video cannot be released for viewing.  

 

 

 

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