School responsibilities for bus safety and behaviour management

Safety on the bus is a shared responsibility

Schools, caregivers and transport providers must work together to make sure students can travel safely to and from school.

The school's responsibilities are to:

• provide a safe environment at school for unloading and loading buses, including having the school bus stop in a safe location
• supervise loading and unloading of the bus at school
• manage inappropriate behaviour on the bus (in conjunction with the provider)
• communicate with parents and caregivers about safety and behaviour expectations.

Schools should develop and document their bus procedures to make behaviour expectations clear.

Roles and responsibilities guides

We provide detailed guides to roles and responsibilities for each of our different service types:

Draft guide for Māori-medium schools

We’re currently gathering feedback on the draft roles and responsibilities guide for Māori-medium schools.

Please send your feedback to: [email protected].

Communicating with whānau | families and teaching children about bus safety

We have an information sheet you can share with families.

Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Authority has guidance for schools and families about bus safety.

School bus safety guide – NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi

Managing behaviour on school bus services

If a student behaves inappropriately or unsafely, you must take steps to manage this behaviour as in any other area of school life.

Schools must have a staff member available while buses are in service

If a driver decides it is unsafe to continue with their route, they can pull over. They are not permitted to remove students from the bus. They must call their employer and follow their procedures. This may include calling the police or school to remove the students concerned.

Withdrawing a student's place on the bus

Schools or transport providers can withdraw a student's place on the school bus if the problem is serious or ongoing. They can do this temporarily or permanently.

If a student loses their place on the school bus, their caregiver is still responsible for getting them to school. Caregivers aren't entitled to a conveyance allowance in this situation and the student is still legally required to go to school.

Processes and procedures to help manage behaviour

A bus procedure can help clarify behaviour expectations for students. You can use it to set out the specific roles and responsibilities for your school staff and transport service providers.

Learn how to create a bus procedure for your school in our training module for bus controllers.

Training – Education learning management system

Code of conduct for students

A bus code of conduct sets out expectations and consequences for behaviour on school transport. It should be signed by the student, their caregiver, the school, and the transport service provider.

Rules about standing and using seatbelts on school buses

Standing

Children are allowed to stand on school buses. Waka Kotahi NZTA determines the loading limit for every passenger service vehicle, including the number of standing passengers.

This limit is specified in the vehicle's Certificate of Loading. Transport service providers are responsible for ensuring that they don't exceed loading limits.

Seatbelts

Not all school buses have to have seatbelts. But if there are seatbelts, they should be used.

Legal requirements for schools that run their own services

Schools that run their own services either through Direct Resourcing or Māori-medium Schools transport assistance funding have specific responsibilities under the Health and Safety Act (2015). They are the persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) for the service. This means they are responsible by law for:

• making sure all vehicles comply with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency requirements
• safety checking all transport staff in accordance with the Children's Act 2014.

Read the following page for more information on safety checking for school staff.

Child protection in schools