Transportation to Non-public Schools

Parents of students living in the Shenendehowa Central School District seeking transportation for their children who will attend a non-public school next year must submit a written request by April 1. Parents must first register their child with the District Registrar in order for Transportation to process the request.

Application for Transportation to non-public schools (BOE 5730F). The completed application must be returned by April 1 to Shenendehowa Central School District, Attn: Pupil Transportation Office, 970 Rt. 146, Clifton Park, NY 12065. Questions should be directed to the Transportation Department at 881-0240. This form must be renewed on an annual basis.

Non-public Transportation Law

Under State Education Law, the Board of Education is required to provide transportation for resident pupils who attend non-public schools. The provision of this transportation is broken into two categories – students residing under fifteen (15) miles from the school attended and students residing over fifteen (15) miles from the school attended. They are:

  • Neighborhood bus stops – Transportation from neighborhood bus stops is provided to non-public schools when the distance from the center of the pupil’s driveway to the drop-off point at the school is fifteen miles (15) or less. The distance is measured by the nearest available publicly maintained route. The parent is responsible for transportation of the pupil to/from the pick-up point.
  • Central Pick-Up Points – Transportation is provided from central pick-up points when the approved school is over fifteen (15) miles from the student’s residence (measured as above). An approved school is one attended by students living within fifteen (15) miles of the school.

Each year the director of transportation will establish centralized pick-up points based on the requests filed for busing by the parent’s (guardian’s) of non-public students by the April 1 deadline. The district is not responsible for providing transportation from home to or from the pick-up point. However, a district may provide school bus transportation to a student if the residence of the student is located on an established route for the transportation of students to the centralized pick-up point, provided such transportation does not result in additional costs to the district.

A student who lives more than fifteen (15) miles from the non-public school he or she attends, and who is receiving transportation between that school and a central pick-up and drop-off point, may disembark from the bus at an established bus stop other than the central drop-off point. In that case, the student’s parent (guardian) must submit a signed request identifying the bus stop at which the student is to disembark. Moreover, an adult living within .2 miles of the bus stop must be designated as being responsible for the student once he/she leaves the bus. A new bus stop may not be established to accommodate a request pursuant to this regulation. This regulation does not authorize a student to transfer to a different bus, or to use any bus other than that which runs between the school the student attends and the central pick-up or drop-off point.

APRIL 1 IS THE DEADLINE EACH YEAR FOR APPLYING FOR NON-PUBLIC (PRIVATE AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS) TRANSPORTATION

An application should be filed, even if the parent (guardian) has not made a final decision. The deadline for requests for transportation from new residents of the district is thirty (30) days after establishing residence in the district. The school district continues to permit parents of non-public school children to submit transportation requests for more than one (1) school by the April 1 deadline and/or permit parents to transfer the original request by the April 1 deadline. However, all requests must be finalized no later than May 15 of each school year. A child must be five years old on or before December 1 of the school year for which busing is requested to be eligible for busing ( same as public school).

If a parent has made appropriate application for a respective non-public school by April 1 and then, for whatever reason, moves within the school district, a new application for transportation from the new address should be made, as soon as possible, and must be made within thirty (30) days of the move to ensure busing. If the mileage exceeds fifteen (15) miles, it will become the parents’ responsibility to transport the child to an appropriate pick-up point.

Bus routes to non-public schools will be consolidated insofar as practical. In scheduling pick-up and delivery times, priority will be given to those non-public schools with the greatest number of students enrolled from the Shenendehowa Central School District boundaries.