As a parent, sibling or grandparent taking children to a fee paying independent school in the United States and returning home you’re always looking for a reliable, safe and quick way each day.
You’re elementary or high school child could be attending a private school that’s in another part of the city or out of town.
Travel during school hours requires a drive along the freeway or highway or through congested busy streets in the US city where you live.
USA private schools don’t have buses for students and they don’t require providing transportation to or from school. Many private sector US schools contract a bus company to transport some students to school, while other parents drive students or they take another bus or train.
Fee paying school students travel more distance from different areas meaning it becomes impractical or unaffordable for independent schools.
United States private school bus transportation
School bus transport in the USA to a local private school is a necessity for children and busy parents as they normally travel during rush hour in the morning. The school run each day is easier if you have a car, although some parents relay on public or school provided bus transportation for they’re child to attend private school.
Individual private schools do sometimes arrange commercial hire transportation to and from school for students as part of fees or at an additional cost, although not all.
These private hire contracted buses could be larger style buses capable of carrying multiple children stopping at selected arranged stops following a designated route.
Depending on the US state where you live regulations for bus transportation for fee paying private school students maybe available provided by the local government district under stipulated conditions, mainly distance living away from the school.
The US State Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has a state requirement that all school students can take a bus to school supplied by the district they reside in under certain conditions.
“According to Wisconsin law, a pupil attending a private elementary or high school in Wisconsin, including four- and five-year-old kindergarten, is entitled to transportation provided by the public school district in which the student resides, if certain criteria are met”.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
3 requirements include:
- A student’s school is over 2 miles from home.
- Live within the private school zone area of attendance.
- The school is inside the resident school district.
Other parts of the United States will have similar arrangements to provide bus transport to both private and public school children in the local area.
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Why don’t American private schools have buses?
Private schools in the United States don’t need to provide bus transportation for students, and they don’t have suitable vehicles for sufficient amounts of students as transportation.
Many kindergarten, elementary & private high school student parents in the USA tend to arrange transport for they’re own child. Parents choose to use a car and drive a junior student to school daily for safety, convince as they have the means of alternative transport available, such as a car.
Unlike USA public school student’s children attending private educational school may travel further to school, typically miles from multiple different directions from home.
US private schools that have arranged contracts with commercial bus companies do so as more than one bus is required to transport multiple children to school from the city or outlying areas miles from the school at the same time of day.
Students can travel 20 + miles to a private elementary or high school which makes it difficult and costly for schools to arrange transportation for students each day.
Student use of independent school buses
All United State private schools will have one or more buses or normally a mini-van or minibus used by the school for transporting a few students to places locally.
- Sports events where a group of students attend or take part in a sports competition locally or in the state.
- School social trip where school students travel, for example to a local attraction.
- Student class subject field trip, such as geography with a teacher to a local beach to show and explain the landscape and rock formations.