Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my child is eligible for transportation to and from a Haven School?
A student enrolled and attending one of the five Haven Schools may be eligible for Haven transportation with respect to the charter organization’s contract with Bay District Schools and Florida Statute 1002.33. A student’s residence as identified in FOCUS determines their eligibility. The requesting legal parent must complete and submit the online transportation request. The transportation staff will enter the FOCUS address in Google Maps and determine the total distance from the school of attendance. If the student resides between 2 and 10 miles of the school, according to our calculations, and the residence is not north of the Bailey Bridge or west of the Hathaway Bridge, then they will be eligible for transportation. Please note that if you have more than one child, and they attend separate schools, one may qualify and the other may not. We are not allowed to go outside our contract and make exceptions. We hope all who desire to use the transportation system are eligible; however, we have a limited bus fleet and your child may be on a waiting list for transportation.
Who is a qualified adult?
A person becomes a qualified adult when a parent or guardian signs and notarizes an authorized student pick up form (above) giving the qualified adult permission to pick up a kindergarten through third grade student from a neighborhood bus stop. Those listed on the notarized pickup form must show a driver’s license or other acceptable identification to the driver before the child is released to their care. The legal parent or guardian must meet the bus at the neighborhood bus stop and identify for the driver those eligible to pick up their student.
What are my responsibilities as a parent?
1. If your student is eligible to ride in the morning, then you must have them at the pre-arranged site in the morning in advance of bus departure. If you are late, do not chase the bus. It is not allowed to stop. You will have to take your child to the next pickup location stated on the website.
3. If your student is eligible to ride the in the afternoon, then our buses will take your student to one of the neighborhood bus stops.
The parent is responsible for the following:
a) An adult must be present to receive any child in grades kindergarten through third grade at the assigned neighborhood bus stop. If the qualified legal parent or guardian is not at the neighborhood bus stop to receive the child on time, the bus will continue the route and keep the student on the bus. The driver will call the transportation director on the bus radio and alert him/her that the child did not have a qualified adult at the bus stop. The child can be picked up at any subsequent neighborhood bus stop by the qualified adult, or they will be returned to their assigned elementary school and placed in After Care . The parent or guardian will be charged for the After Care service at the daily rate.
b) Parents or guardians, who desire to assign a student who is in grade 6 - 12 to escort a kindergarten through third grade student home, must sign a release with Haven Transportation and have it signed and notarized by the school.
c) It is the parents’ responsibility to check for weather and make preparations for their child(ren) to have foul weather gear or to be on site to pick the child(ren) up at the appointed time.
What may I not do?
1. As a student, you may not bus jump! This means if you are assigned a bus, that is the bus you are to ride.
2. You may not have friends ride the bus home with your child unless you have received permission from the principal of the school your child attends, the friend rides the exact same bus, and we confirm with the parent that they indeed have requested this opportunity. Don’t assume it is alright to do this without school confirmation. We may not have a seat available.
3. You may not request we make “courtesy stops” for your convenience. We simply do not have the buses, the drivers, nor the finances to accommodate these requests.
4. Please do not send your child(ren) with big projects, band instruments or bulky equipment unless you have made prior arrangements with the bus driver and the school. Most of our buses are at capacity and cannot physically handle the extra equipment.
