Whenever you take students anywhere on a bus, you're handling some of the most precious cargo that can ever be on our roads. Obviously, the safety of students should always be top priority. However, things get more complex when dealing with special needs students. Your buses and bus systems have to be ready for the challenges they may present, while still ensuring every student gets there and back safely.

School districts have legal, ethical and moral obligations to keep students reasonably safe and secure when in their care.  This obligation extends beyond the school grounds into off-campus field trips.  These off-site excursions open up students to potential hazards that would not be present in the normal school environment.  Therefore, safeguards must be set for the protection of students and to ensure that risks and potential liabilities are minimized.       

Field trips are educational experiences scheduled off-campus and planned by school personnel to reinforce classroom instruction. Field trips can be a wonderful experience for both teachers and students, providing a memorable learning experience. 

In the interest of helping you accurately estimate school transportation
costs in the event of any planned field trips, it is instructive to review a short compendium of the most common questions asked by administrators and field-trip coordinators nationwide. Preparing for these actually tends to reduce school transportation costs because the answers facilitate better planning before the request for buses goes out, as well as make the field trip process more efficient overall.