Supervising Children on Head Start Buses
Head Start transportation teams have an important job. Each day, safe and reliable transportation services can be a child’s first interaction with Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Head Start transportation teams have an important job. Each day, safe and reliable transportation services can be a child’s first interaction with Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Many young children are seriously injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes. Using a car seat reduces the risk of death in passenger vehicles by 71 percent for infants younger than age 1 and by 54 percent for toddlers ages 1 to 4. Early education staff can use these flip charts to help families learn how to keep their child safe in a motor vehicle.
This checklist can be used by local programs that provide transportation services as a tool for ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations..
Head Start programs are not required to provide transportation services. However, when they do provide those services, they must comply with key regulations. Explore these resources to support programs in the safe and efficient movement of children from one point to another.
This page provides policy and regulations, as well as helpful information about transportation in Early Head Start and Head Start programs.
Programs must comply with transportation regulations if they decide to transport children. This resource may be used by Head Start staff to better understand federal requirements for program transportation services.
Head Start transportation teams have an important job. Each day, safe and reliable transportation services can be a child’s first interaction with Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Not only do transportation teams have to ensure that buses are safe and routes run on time, they also must supervise children. This webinar may help transportation teams identify strategies for meeting some of the many challenges they experience every day.
This rule finalizes the provisions of the proposed rule published on May 30, 2006 and responds to public comments received as a result of the proposed rule. This final rule authorizes approval of annual waivers, under certain circumstances, from two provisions in the current Head Start transportation regulation (45 CFR part 1310): the requirement that each child be seated in a child restraint system while the vehicle is in motion, and the requirement that each bus have at least one bus monitor on board at all times. Waivers would be granted when the Head Start or Early Head Start grantee demonstrates that compliance with the requirement(s) for which the waiver is being sought will result in a significant disruption to the Head Start program or the Early Head Start program and that waiving the requirement(s) is in the best interest of the children involved. The rule also revises the definition of child restraint system in the regulation to remove the reference to weight which now conflicts with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
In a Head Start program, the bus is not just a vehicle to transport children; it is also a learning environment. This article can be used by classroom teachers to further their understanding of creating age-appropriate activities for children who ride the bus. The classroom teacher can help transportation staff become a resource for the classroom; likewise, transportation staff can be an integral part of the classroom.
Families depend on programs to keep their children safe at all times. This includes when they travel to and from the program by bus. This sample sign-in sheet has a written attendance log that staff and family members can sign every time a child gets on and off the bus. There is also a space on the sheet for a photo of each child. The photos help staff with name-to-face recognition, so they always release the right child to an authorized adult. These simple injury prevention strategies can help staff account for all children who ride the bus.