Greater Collegedale School System Transportation Policy

 

The term “school transportation” is defined as “transportation on a school bus,” school van “or private passenger automobile driven by a member of the faculty or staff of the school, a parent of the covered person, or other adult with a valid drivers’ license whom the school has specifically designated to transport covered persons to a school supervised and sponsored activity” (ARM/Christian Educators Insurance Trust, 2007, p.4). It is the policy of GCSS to provide transportation as defined by the previous statement, which is approved by Georgia-Cumberland Conference of SDA, Adventist Risk Management and Christian Educators Insurance Trust.

 

In an effort to provide transportation for school activities, sometimes it is necessary to use volunteer drivers and their vehicles. The school has an obligation to know if volunteers have good driving records before they are allowed to drive students on school functions.

 

Part A

 

1.          All volunteer drivers must be screened by the administration and faculty of A. W. Spalding and/or Collegedale Academy.

2.          All volunteer drivers must complete the GCSS questionnaire well in advance of the driving date (as to give the administration and faculty sufficient time for screening).

3.          The school administration has the right to accept or reject volunteer drivers based    on the   information provided.

4.          The school administration can re-evaluate screened volunteer drivers at any time during the school year.

5.          The minimum age for drivers is twenty-one (21) years of age.

6.          Each driver must be properly licensed and have proper insurance in force. In addition, each driver must have an acceptable record of not more than two (2) traffic citations and no fault accidents in the last three (3) years.

7.          No vehicle is to carry more than the official rated load capacity and all passengers    must wear seat belts. No double belting is allowed. Violations of this policy could result in insurance refusing to pay claims.

8.          Adventist Risk Management recommends that volunteers have at least $100/$300 thousand liability coverage. Schools must satisfy themselves that drivers have at least state mandated minimum automobile liability. The driver’s medical payment insurance will be considered the primary coverage and ARM will be secondary up to $1 million.

9.          All drivers must provide proof of insurance and drivers’ license (copies must be on file).

 

Part B

 

Transportation for school sponsored activities such as can collecting, golf, tennis, basketball, and musical performances, among others, must follow the guidelines specified in Part A. However, insurance policy permits students to drive themselves, not any other passengers in the vehicle, to and from school activities as long as they and their parents have been notified that the school will not cover transportation liability in those cases.

 

If students and/or parents choose not to use school-provided transportation, then transportation liability is the sole responsibility of the student driver and/or parent.

 

GCSS will post the Transportation Policy Notice on its website as well as make it available to the public upon request. Parents of Collegedale Academy students will have to sign the Transportation Policy Notice Acknowledgement Form.