San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) provides specialized transportation services for special needs students who attend County educational programs. This transportation may include wheelchair and ambulatory buses to meet student needs. Transportation is also provided to children residing in Licensed Children Institution Facilities. Some school districts use the County transportation services for their Special Day Class students and for field trips on a fee-for-service basis. SMCOE contracts with a provider for transportation services and districts enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the SMCOE to utilize these services.
Per your child's IEP, he/she qualifies for home-to-school transportation services. Our goal is to provide the safest, most reliable transportation service for your child. All changes to a student's transportation services MUST be made through your SMCOE Program Office. Please be aware that changes can take 3 to 7 days before the start of service. If you have compliments for or problems with your transportation services, please contact our administration.
Schedule
Each student is assigned a consistent pick-up and drop-off time and location at the beginning of the school term. The driver will provide each parent/guardian with an information card, listing the driver's name, the student pick-up and drop-off times, and the telephone number of the transportation office and the bus company. Routes, buses, and pick-up and drop-off times may need to be changed during the year to accommodate new students. When that happens, the drivers will notify the adult who supervises pick-up of the change in schedule two to three days in advance of the change. Please remember that road conditions and weather can cause a route to run late. If the driver is later than 5 minutes, call our office at (650) 802-5595 to find out where the driver is on the route.
Pick-ups
Each student must be supervised by an adult at the pick-up location and should be ready when the bus arrives. If he/she is not at the stop and ready, the driver will wait three minutes. If the child has not boarded the bus by then, the driver will radio into the bus company to record the time and proceed on the route in order to maintain the schedule.
Drop-off
Please make sure you or your designated adult (designated adults are listed on the student transportation emergency form) are present to receive the student. Each student must be supervised by an adult at the drop-off location unless a "Release from Responsibility" form is signed by the parent, approved by the Director, Educational Services, and on file in the transportation office. It is the parent/guardian's responsibility to notify our office if another adult (not listed as designated) will be receiving your child. Please remember that the driver has the right to ask to verify an adult by asking to see an ID.
Per Education Code 39831.3, when Pre-K, Kindergarten and Grades 1-8 students arrive at the school site, they must be received by either the teacher or paraeducator who will supervise them and escort them to their classroom and in the afternoon, to the bus.
Cancellations and Suspended Services
To cancel a pick-up, please call our office directly at (650) 802-5595 at least one hour before the pick-up time. If it is after hours, you can leave us a message the night before. If your child will be out of town or in the hospital for an extended period of time, please notify the Transportation Office. If contacted ahead of time, transportation will be put on hold instead of canceled. When your child is ready to restart services, please contact our office with the anticipated start date.
If a student does not ride the bus for three consecutive days without notice from the parent, the driver will not stop at the location until the parent notifies the transportation office or the bus company that the student is ready to return to school. When the parent wishes transportation to resume, the transportation office or the bus company must be notified an hour prior to the scheduled pick-up time.
Bus drivers are not able to transport sick students after they arrive to school. It is the parent/guardian's responsibility to pick up a child who becomes ill during the school day. If your child becomes ill during the ride to school, we will try to notify you and, if possible, return the student home.
San Mateo County
Office of Education
Transportation Office
Phone: (650) 802-5595
Fax: (650) 802-5470
Heather Logan
Principal, Special Education Services E-22
Sarah Notch
Executive Director, Center for Access & Engagement
Email: snotch[at]smcoe.org
Phone: (650) 802-5629