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45 C.F.R. Subpart C—Special Requirements

Title 45 - Public Welfare

Title 45: Public Welfare
PART 1310—HEAD START TRANSPORTATION

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Subpart C—Special Requirements

§ 1310.20   Trip routing.

(a) Each agency providing transportation services must ensure that in planning fixed routes the safety of the children being transported is the primary consideration.

(b) The agency must also ensure that the following basic principles of trip routing are adhered to:

(1) The time a child is in transit to and from the Head Start or Early Head Start program must not exceed one hour unless there is no shorter route available or any alternative shorter route is either unsafe or impractical.

(2) Vehicles must not be loaded beyond the maximum passenger capacity at any time.

(3) Vehicles must not be required to back up or make “U” turns, except when necessary for reasons of safety or because of physical barriers.

(4) Stops must be located to minimize traffic disruptions and to afford the driver a good field of view in front of and behind the vehicle.

(5) When possible, stops must be located to eliminate the need for children to cross the street or highway to board or leave the vehicle.

(6) If children must cross the street before boarding or after leaving the vehicle because curbside drop off or pick up is impossible, they must be escorted across the street by the bus monitor or another adult.

(7) Specific procedures must be established for use of alternate routes in the case of hazardous conditions that could affect the safety of the children who are being transported, such as ice or water build up, natural gas line breaks, or emergency road closing. In selecting among alternatives, transportation providers must choose routes that comply as much as possible with the requirements of this section.

§ 1310.21   Safety education.

(a) Each agency must provide training for parents and children in pedestrian safety. The training provided to children must be developmentally appropriate and an integral part of program experiences. The need for an adult to accompany a preschool child while crossing the street must be emphasized in the training provided to parents and children. The required transportation and pedestrian safety education of children and parents, except for the bus evacuation drills required by paragraph (d) of this section, must be provided within the first thirty days of the program year.

(b) Each agency providing transportation services, directly or through another organization or an individual, must ensure that children who receive such services are taught:

(1) safe riding practices;

(2) safety procedures for boarding and leaving the vehicle;

(3) safety procedures in crossing the street to and from the vehicle at stops;

(4) recognition of the danger zones around the vehicle; and

(5) emergency evacuation procedures, including participating in an emergency evacuation drill conducted on the vehicle the child will be riding.

(c) Each agency providing transportation services must provide training for parents that:

(1) emphasizes the importance of escorting their children to the vehicle stop and the importance of reinforcing the training provided to children regarding vehicle safety; and

(2) complements the training provided to their children so that safety practices can be reinforced both in Head Start and at home by the parent.

(d) Each agency providing transportation services must ensure that at least two bus evacuation drills in addition to the one required under paragraph (b)(5) of this section are conducted during the program year.

(e) Each agency providing transportation services must develop activities to remind children of the safety procedures. These activities must be developmentally appropriate, individualized and be an integral part of the Head Start or Early Head Start program activities.

§ 1310.22   Children with disabilities.

(a) Effective January 18, 2006 each agency must ensure that there are school buses or allowable alternate vehicles adapted or designed for transportation of children with disabilities available as necessary to transport such children enrolled in the program. This requirement does not apply to the transportation of children receiving home-based services unless school buses or allowable alternate vehicles are used to transport the other children served under the home-based option by the grantee. Whenever possible, children with disabilities must be transported in the same vehicles used to transport other children enrolled in the Head Start or Early Head Start program.

(b) Each Head Start, Early Head Start and delegate agency must ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the HHS regulations at 45 CFR part 84, implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Head Start Program Performance Standards on Services for Children with Disabilities (45 CFR part 1308) as they apply to transportation services.

(c) Each agency must specify any special transportation requirements for a child with a disability when preparing the child's Individual Education Plan (IEP) or Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP), and ensure that in all cases special transportation requirements in a child's IEP or IFSP are followed, including:

(1) special pick-up and drop-off requirements;

(2) special seating requirements;

(3) special equipment needs;

(4) any special assistance that may be required; and

(5) any special training for bus drivers and monitors.

§ 1310.23   Coordinated transportation.

(a) Each agency providing transportation services must make reasonable efforts to coordinate transportation resources with other human services agencies in its community in order to control costs and to improve the quality and the availability of transportation services.

(b) At a minimum, the agency must:

(1) identify the true costs of providing transportation in order to knowledgeably compare the costs of providing transportation directly versus contracting for the service;

(2) explore the option of participating in any coordinated public or private transportation systems existing in the community; and

(3) where no coordinated public or private non-profit transportation system exists in the community, make every effort to identify other human services agencies also providing transportation services and, where reasonable, to participate in the establishment of a local transportation coordinating council.

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