The most important issue for the School Bus Transportation Department is the safety of every student who rides a school bus or activity bus. In order to ensure each student has a safe ride, the Marion County School District Code of Student Conduct applies to all students while at the bus stop, on the school bus or on any School District vehicle. Inappropriate behavior will be treated with the same level of scrutiny as inappropriate behavior in the classroom and will lead to appropriate school consequences in accordance with the Code of Student Conduct and includes suspension from bus riding.

Timeliness at Bus Stops

State policy requires students to be waiting at the bus stop when the bus arrives. Students should be at the bus stop five minutes prior to the scheduled pickup time and remain at the bus stop for five minutes past scheduled pick-up time. This is a safety issue so that traffic is not delayed excessively and to ensure that students do not run at or near a moving bus. Students are considered late for the bus if they are not at the bus stop when the bus arrives. Once the bus has proceeded past the designated bus stop, it will not stop again.

Concerns About School Bus Driver

If you have a concern with the bus driver, please contact the Transportation Supervisor. Do not approach the bus driver or stop the bus or interfere with the operation of the school bus in any way. Again, contact the Transportation Supervisor.

• South Carolina state law provides that no person shall willfully and wrongfully interfere with the operation of a school bus by boarding, restricting movement, using threats, either physical or verbal, to the driver or any passenger while the bus is engaged in the transportation of pupils; nor shall any person willfully fail or refuse to obey a lawful order of a school bus driver relating to the occupancy of a school bus.

Transportation Supervisor and Contact Information

Herman Waters 843.464.3707

Palmetto Education Center, 200 Broad Street, Mullins, South Carolina

William Moody, Area One Contact, 431.5055

Techeka Lasane, Area Two Contact, 464.3707

Steven Sparks, Area Seven Contact, 362-3500