TRANSPORTATION SERVICES BUS SERVICE INFORMATION

PASCO COUNTY SCHOOLS 2023 - 2024 SCHOOL YEAR

Secondary Information

TRANSPORTATION CALL CENTER

Our Customer Service Team is now available: Monday through Friday ALL YEAR from 6:30 AM – 5:30 PM.

Call 813-794-2500, 727-774-2500, 352-524-2500 or 813-320-2562.

To assist families with back-to-school questions and concerns, the Transportation Call Center will be open

the following dates and times:

August 4

– 9

from 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM.

August 10

– 18

from 6:30 AM - 6:00 PM.

Call 813-794-2500, 727-774-2500, 352-524-2500 or 813-320-2562

Please also e-mail open@k12-lets-talk.com and Transportation Customer Service representatives will assist.

Be Ready for the Bus

It is important to be standing at the bus stop at least 5 minutes prior to the pick-up time on your bus pass. Please follow these

directions especially if you drive your student to the stop in the morning. Routes will likely run a little late until everyone gets

back to the school routine again. Please be early and be ready. It is important to keep in mind that school bus drivers are not

able to engage in lengthy discussions with parents or guardians at the bus stop as we strive to maintain our bus stop schedule.

Please contact Transportation bus compound or call center should you have questions or concerns you would like to discuss.

Bus Compound Contact Information

Bus routes each have an alpha-numerical identifier. The beginning letter identifies the servicing bus compound you should call

if needed.

C Routes (Central) 727-774-0520

D Routes (East) 813-794-0560

N Routes (Northwest) 727-774-0540

S Routes (South) 727-774-4410

W Routes (West) 727-774-0400

Z Routes (Southeast) 813-794-0500

Transportation Eligibility

Florida State Statute outlines student eligibility for school transportation. In general, students that live within 2 miles of their

zoned school are not eligible for basic student transportation and is the family’s responsibility to coordinate how their student

gets to and from school. Transportation as a related service for special education students is coordinated on a student IEP or

504 documentation.

Ridership Consistency

We certainly understand the excitement of returning to school and families driving their elementary students in the first few

days (or more)! Please consider transitioning your student to the bus as soon as possible. We want our students (and you) to

be comfortable and confident when using District transportation. Ridership will be monitored and those students with bus

passes that do not ride the bus will receive notification of their pass being ended. The deactivation of passes will begin in October

for students not actively riding the bus.

Bus Passes

Transportation relies on information in MyStudent to issue bus passes for students. It is important for you to ensure your

student’s address information is accurate and updated, as needed, directly with their school. Updated bus passes will be

available in your MyStudent portal. Bus passes for students with an IEP or 504 can take up to 7 days to coordinate

transportation so it is important to contact your school asap if there is a concern. Parent Portal set-up information can be

found here https://tinyurl.com/y6nyn8b8

School Choice

Transportation is not provided for students that have elected to attend a school other than their zoned school. Students

participating in some academic programs (e.g., Cambridge, IB, Magnet) may have alternative transportation options. This

information can be provided by your student’s school or by contacting Transportation at 813-794-2500, 727-774-2500, 352-

524-2500 or 813-320-2562.

Single Bus Pass

Transportation eligible students may only be issued one bus pass based on the student’s address of record. This pass is for

consistent transportation; Monday-Friday; morning and afternoon; to the same stop location. The District is unable to

accommodate requests for bus stops to multiple addresses.

Two Week Route Consistency

It is District practice to restrict route changes for the first two weeks of school (e.g., adding stops, changing stop times). This

allows students and families to build a consistent back-to-school routine. While there are situations that require some limited,

specific changes to occur, we will work to minimize the impact as much as possible. Route changes will begin to be processed

beginning the third week of school.

Late Buses

If a bus is running at least 15 minutes late, an automated phone message will be sent to the identified contact for the students

assigned to that bus, using the primary phone number listed in Mystudent. If the bus arrives late to school, Transportation

notifies the school office of their late arrival. Students will not be marked tardy due to their bus arriving late to school.

Maintaining Your Student’s Emergency Contacts

The information recorded in MyStudent will be used to communicate with you or your designated emergency contacts in the

event of an emergency at school or on the bus. It is vital that you check periodically and update this information with the school.

This information can be verified through your MyStudent portal.

General Bus Safety and General Information

Buses are equipped with lap belts and students are expected to wear them at all times.

Band Instruments or Large Projects: Students may bring these items on the bus as long as they can be held in their lap or

between their legs. Also, they shall not protrude into the aisle or another student’s space. Large projects cannot contain

materials that could be harmful to other students such as hazardous liquids, glass, or other sharp items, etc.

Any item left on a school bus will be collected by their bus driver and held for your student on the next school day. Students

should check with their driver first for any lost items. Items of obvious monetary value are turned in to the bus compound at

the end of the day. We are not able to have a bus return to a stop for items left on the bus. Contact the transportation compound

should assistance be needed.

Coming Soon

Where’s The Bus will enable parents to view in live time the location of their students assigned school bus and its ETA to the

bus stop. By monitoring ridership with student IDs, parents can receive notifications when their student boards the bus.

Arrival times are available instantly with Apple or Android apps or any internet device (smartphone, tablet, PC, etc.).

Transportation will contact schools and families as this becomes available for your students.