General Education Transportation Policy

San Francisco Unified School District and County Office of Education

Board Policy 5101.1

General Education Transportation Policy

 

This Board Policy applies to the San Francisco Unified School District and the County Office of Education.

 

 

 

Introduction

 

This transportation policy for general education students is designed to support the Board of Education’s student assignment policy (P5101) and the commitments in the strategic plan (Beyond the Talk: Taking Action to Educate Every Child Now), and it overrides all terms in Board policies and administrative regulations that are inconsistent with any of its provisions, including but not limited to P5117.1, for general education students.

 

Transportation Policy

 

The Superintendent, or his/her designee, shall have the discretion to construe all terms in this General Education Transportation Policy and to approve specific transportation plans that he or she deems necessary to meet the requirements of the Board of Education’s strategic plan, student assignment policy (P5101), and vision for after school services, and to comply with transfer and transportation obligations under No Child Left Behind or similar state or federal laws.  

 

As school bus transportation service is not a mandate under California law, the goals and objectives set forth below will guide the strategic use of resources for limited general education school bus transportation services. 

 

1. Support choice in school assignment as a tactic for creating diverse learning environments.

 

1. Maintain school bus transportation services that help create diverse enrollments.
    
2. Provide school bus transportation to racially isolated schools that have historically been under enrolled.

 

2. Support equitable access to the range of opportunities offered to students.

 

1. Provide English Learners with reasonable access to language programs.
    
2. Provide newcomers with reasonable access to newcomer programs.
    
3. Provide low-income students living in areas of the city with the lowest average test scores (e.g., CTIP1 for the 2011-12 school year) with reasonable access to city-wide schools and programs.
    
4. Provide students living in densely populated attendance areas with reasonable access to schools in less densely populated areas of the city.

 

3. Provide limited school bus transportation to support reasonable access for attendance area residents to their attendance areas school.
    
4. To support the middle school assignment process outlined in P5101, provide limited transportation for middle school students in cases where a middle school attendance area is not reasonably accessible to the middle school, taking into account factors including the availability of reasonable MUNI routes.
    
5. Transportation is not contemplated for general education high school students, and/or will only be considered when the Superintendent determines it is necessary to provide equitable access and reverse the trend of racial isolation and the concentration of underserved students in the same school.
    
6. Support the District’s vision for after school services.

 

1. Provide limited school bus transportation to after school programs if feasible and necessary to support the District’s vision for after school services.

 

7. Minimize the use of unrestricted general fund budget contributions for general education school bus transportation.

 

Definitions

 

English Learner: Students who are in the process of acquiring English as a second language and have not yet reached Fully English Proficient (“FEP”) status.

 

Newcomer: Recently arrived immigrant English Learner students who need a period of adjustment and orientation before entering one of the core English Learner Pathways.

 

CTIP1: Census tracts in the city with the lowest average CST scores.

 

CTIP1 Area: A geographic area such as a neighborhood or community planning area that includes CTIP1 tracts.  For example, the CTIP1 tracts in the Mission could constitute a CTIP1 area.

 

Attendance Areas: Boundaries drawn around individual schools.

 

Racial Isolation: Although the SFUSD enrollment is diverse and does not have a majority group, in CBEDS 2008 twenty-five schools (which is approximately one quarter of all K-12 schools) had more than 60% of a single racial/ethnic group, ten schools had more than 70% of a single racial/ethnic group, three schools had more than 80% of a single racial/ethnic group, and fifteen schools had more than 60% of a single racial/ethnic group coupled with an Academic Performance of 1, 2, or 3.  The Board considers such schools racially isolated, and a goal of this policy is to reduce the number of racially isolated schools. 

 

Underserved Students: Students performing Below Basic or Far Below Basic on the California Standards Test and other equivalent assessments administered by the District.

 

 

Please note that compare references, or “cf”, refer to CSBA model policies and do not necessarily indicate that the San Francisco Unified School District has adopted the referenced policy.