Charlotte County Public Schools

The Bus Stop Locator will allow you to find the stops within the school district established walking distances of your home for every school serving students near your residence.  Enter your home address, select the school or schools you want to check, and click on "enter." The stops, bus numbers, and times will be displayed for your home. If no stop is listed, contact the Area Manager for your student's school.

Bus Stop Locator

Where’s the Bus® allows you to see the location of your child's bus on your smartphone, tablet, or PC.  Full access is FREE per household on the App Store, Google Play, or at WherestheBus

NOTE: Parents are allowed to create an account only if they can validate their student’s information. The suggested validation method is to prompt a parent for the student’s birth date and student ID #. If the information entered does not match the Transportation student ridership database, the parent will not be able to create an account.

1. From your computer go to WherestheBus
2. Click on PARENTS on the left-hand side to set up an account. Read the fine print directions on the web page.
3. Use the drop-down menu to select “Charlotte County (FL)”.
4. Enter your information.
5. Enter your child's birth date and student ID number.
6. If you have other students in the household you can enter them using the same logon.
7. Confirm these are your students and you’re ready to go !!
8.  

Please Note:

• If your residence is within two (2) miles of your assigned school, no school bus transportation is provided by the district.
• Walking distance to a bus stop, by district policy, for an elementary student is 1 mile.
• Walking distance to a bus stop, by district policy, for a secondary student is 1.5 miles.

Must-Be-Met Parent Escort Letter:  

Download Escort Letter

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Transportation Provision for Families in Transit Situations

Changing schools greatly interferes with a student's academic and social development. To accommodate highly mobile students (those without permanent nightly residence), legislation was passed that requires local educational agencies to provide these students with transportation to and from their school of origin (SOO) at the parent or guardian's request. For more information about families in transition, please visit our Homeless Education Project page.

On rare occasions, parents and Transportation may not agree on a decision made by the department. Transportation makes every effort to find a way to assist parents with their student(s), however some accommodations may not always be possible. This disagreement may be based on perceived safety differences, disagreement with the state law, rules, or board policy, and/or an extraordinary hardship on a family. In those situations, parents may request an exception through the district Transportation Review Committee (TRC). This is an ad-hoc committee that makes recommendations to the Superintendent or designated representative regarding parent requests. The committee consists of Parents, Grandparents, Guardians, Law Enforcement Officers, School Administrators, the Assistant Superintendent of District Support Services, and one representative from Transportation. The TRC committee meets on an as-needed basis to review written requests for exceptions from parents, then makes recommendations for approval or denial to the Superintendent or representative. Any request for an exception must be made in writing.

The request can be mailed to: Transportation Review Committee (TRC) 1026 Carmalita Street Punta Gorda, Florida 33950-5625 - or faxed to: (941) 575- 5425 - or emailed to: Transportation@yourcharlotteschools.net.

A written response will be sent to the parent or guardian sometime after the TRC committee meeting has made a decision.

1. How do I get my student assigned to a school bus?

A. Everything begins at the school. When you register your student, your residence address and other information is entered into the district data base. That evening the information is transferred to Transportation, and your student, if eligible, will be assigned to a stop. The school will, at the time of registration, give you the bus information, and generate a bus pass for your student to give the driver. At that time, your student may ride the bus even if the registration information has not yet been entered.

2. I can’t get bus service, I thought everyone got a bus ride if they wanted it.

A. There are two primary reasons a student would not be eligible to receive school bus transportation. The first is the student lives within two miles of their assigned school. State rules (6A-3) define authorized students as being any student who lives more than two miles from the school as measured from the nearest entrance into the school to the nearest point where public land intersects the residence property. So if you live within that residence, as measured by the roads traveled, you would not be eligible for the school bus. The second reason would be you are not living within the defined attendance area of the school your student attends. If a student is enrolled in a school not assigned by the residence, this is considered a school of choice. Under school board policy, any student enrolled at a school of choice is not entitled to school board transportation to that school. Parents, when completing the assignment request, acknowledge the responsibility to providing the transportation.

3. Why can’t I have a bus stop closer to my house?

A. Transportation establishes stops based on safety of stop location and walk paths, student residence, school board policy regarding walking distance, distance between stops, and maximum number of students assigned to a stop, and efficiency. When combined, some students may walk further to a stop than others but everyone is assured a safe bus stop, and walk path within school board policy walking distances. Adding or changing a bus stop has a potentially negative affect on the other students assigned to the bus. It may lengthen the time it takes the bus to reach school or other stops. It may require other students to walk further than previously established. For these reasons, Transportation will only adjust a stop if a recognizable safety hazard or a violation of school board policy has taken place.

4. When should I have my student at the bus stop, and how long should I wait if the bus is late?

A. Students should arrive at a bus stop at least five (5) minutes before the scheduled stop time and remain at the bus stop until the bus arrives. While we make every effort to be consistent, the unexpected and unplanned does happen.

5. I want my student to go to another stop in the afternoon. What do I need to do?

A. Start at the school. Board policy requires school principals or their designee to approve any stop changes. If your student is in elementary school, and is using a day care facility within the attendance area of the assigned school, the school may issue a bus pass for your student changing the bus stop. If the change is permanent, the bus pass will reflect the new information which is entered into the Transportation data base. The stop change must be for the full school week. If this is a one-time situation for either an elementary or secondary student, give a note to the school explaining the need for an alternative stop. The school will issue a temporary bus pass to your student for that day.

NOTE: The requested stop change must be within the school attendance area and for an existing stop. Students will not be transported outside of the school attendance area or to a stop not already established.

6. Why do I need to be at the bus stop with my kindergarten or first grade student? Why do I have to come to the door of the bus, the driver can see me?

A. The safety of your children is paramount for the school district. School Board policy requires any pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, or first grade student be met at the bus stop before a driver can release the student. This ensures our youngest students are in the care of a parent or someone the parent trusts before we let them leave our care. These young students do not always make wise choices. Accidents can and do happen in a few steps. Substitute drivers, and even regular drivers may not know who is at the stop to meet a student on any particular day. For this reason, any person taking custody of a young student must come to the door of the bus to receive them. This ensures the driver knows someone is there, and who that person is. It also ensures someone has immediate custody of the student so those unwise choices don’t happen.

7. Why did my student’s:

A. Stop time change – After the school year begins, the district continues to enroll or disenroll students. These students may require new bus stops, or change the demographic of existing stops. These changes impact the bus route times, and may result in time changes.

B. Bus Number change – Our school buses are inspected every 25 school days. When a bus is inspected, a substitute bus is added to the run. Each substitute bus will have the original bus number printed on the window by the passenger door. If a bus requires extended repairs, a substitute bus will be placed on the run until the original bus is returned to service. On some occasions after school begins, we may need to move a stop from one bus to another. In this situation, the bus number change is permanent and a notice will be sent to parents/guardians.

C. Stop location change – Occasionally student demographics change, or walking hazards are identified (new construction, changes in road conditions, etc.). When these occur, a stop location will be adjusted to a safer or more central location on the route. Stop locations are designed to accommodate all the assigned students in an area, and to ensure the safest walk path to the stop. When these changes take place, parents will be notified of the change at least 24 hours in advance.