CHCA TRANSPORTATION GUIDE Information, Insurance Requirements, Guidelines
Types of School-Sponsored Trips Definition of School-sponsored trip : any field trip, May/J-term trip, and any trip that is organized by a CHCA employee for CHCA students, whether or not the trip is taken during the school year. 1. Local Day Trips - the types that might be taken by other public or private school groups and that take one school day or part of a day. Examples are restaurants,museums, performances, the zoo. - For this kind of trip, parents may transport students in their own vehicles, without becoming a certified driver (see below), provided the trip organizers make sure the school has on file the signed and current-year form, Transportation Agreement for Personal Vehicles (attached). - If there might be an occasion during such field trips when a parent or other volunteer could be alone with one or more students, the person must be fingerprinted, preferably a week or more before the trip. Obviously this can be a judgment call if in doubt, just ask Sarah. Please see below for how fingerprinting works. Important Note: Students should never be asked by any faculty or staff member to transport other students to or from school trips or events. 2. Overnight, longer term or higher risk trips - These include: Trips that happen during school hours but might involve unusual or higher risk destinations (a one-day rafting trip for example); Trips that last longer than the school day, and/or include one or more overnights. (example: COSI overnight.) For these trips all adults must be fingerprinted.
Procedure for Overnight Trips CHCA s insurance company needs the itinerary and the roster with birthdates for these trips. I can obtain most of this info from other sources, but only the organizer usually knows which adults are traveling, so please keep Sarah informed about this. Please factor in to the cost of these trips, the insurance cost of: $1 per person per day for domestic trips, and $3 per person per day for international trips. 1. For this kind of trip, all adults must be fingerprinted. Please send Sarah their names. 2. Please make sure parents are aware that if their child should become ill at the last minute, or is unable to go for other reasons, the school does not reimburse them for the cost of the trip. Parents should obtain their own trip cancellation insurance if they want this coverage. 3. Information about any drivers needed for the trip see requirements below and/or ask Kathy Wesson who handles driver certification. 4. If any personal vehicles are being used to transport students, we need: a summary of the vehicle owner s car insurance, and the vehicle must be inspected by one of CHCA s maintenance staff. Please contact Lori Duke, ext. 257, to schedule this brief inspection.
Fingerprinting Information Anyone who might be alone with students at any time should be asked to come to the Business Office to be fingerprinted this includes all adults for non-customary or overnight trips. If a person has been fingerprinted elsewhere (Ohio or FBI only) within the past year, we do not need to re-do the process if the person can provide us a copy of the results. Fingerprinting is the same thing as a background check; the terms are interchangeable. The process is now computerized no ink is used; it takes a total of only 5 to 10 minutes. There is no need for people to call ahead or make an appointment to come in for fingerprinting. They can come anytime during business hours to get it done; several people in the office are able to operate the equipment.
DRIVERS and CERTIFICATION Anyone who drives students either on a regular basis or for an extended trip, in any vehicle personal, rental or school van, car or truck, is required by the Ohio Department of Education to become a certified driver. Non-certified drivers will not be added to the school insurance and present a risk to the school. The Athletic Department will only release school vans to certified drivers. If a teacher, parent or volunteer knows ahead of time that s/he will need to be certified to drive at any time during the year, it is recommended that s/he go ahead and get the physical and other requirements over with in the summer because the certification is good for the entire year. For occasional drivers of personal vehicles for customary field trips or other short-term events, certification is not required, but they must sign and return the Transportation Agreement for Personal Vehicles (attached and posted on the Parent Page of the website). Important Note: Students should never be asked by any faculty or staff member to transport other students to or from school trips or events. The procedure to become certified is as follows: The driver should first stop by the Business Office; Kathy Wesson or Sarah Ferguson will explain the process, give the driver the necessary paperwork, copy the driver s license and take fingerprints. The driver must go to a doctor to have a physical and have the required form filled out (the school pays for this up to a certain amount and has an account with a local health clinic). The driver must also check out a safety video, watch it, answer some written questions and return the video and questions. The checklist is submitted to the Ohio Department of Education online, which returns to the school a notice of certification. A driver must be re-certified by obtaining a physical and watching the video each year.
School Vans and Buses Vans Capacity is 8 students and 1 driver. They are scheduled through the Athletic Office. All van drivers who transport students must be certified. All drivers, whether certified or not, must be added to CHCA s insurance before they drive. To add them to the insurance, please forward the driver s social security number, driver s license number and date of birth to Kathy Wesson (ext. 254) or Sarah Ferguson (ext. 256). CHCA s Small Yellow Buses Capacity is 21 children or 16 adults. They are scheduled through a Bus Request Form (on the share drive) that should be submitted to Lori Duke (ext. 257). Please use a separate form for each trip. Please submit the form as early as possible before the trip, as driver availability is limited, but all efforts are made to accommodate the request.
240-Mile Limitation for School-Owned Vans and Buses (120 miles from Ohio border and 120 miles back) The following Ohio law applies to all school-owned vehicles (vans and buses), for all school-related trips (J-term, field trips, mission trips ). Any out-of-state travel shall remain with in two hundred forty miles round-trip distance from the point of exit from the state to the point of entry to the state. Ohio Administrative Code 3301-83-16(E), authorized by Ohio Revised Code 3327.15. Here is some explanation of the rule from the Ohio Department of Education: There are no exceptions to this rule. If a school wishes to take students to a destination that is further than what is permissible by this rule, they must seek an alternative method of travel to ensure compliance with the law. For example, a school might use a motor coach company to transport students to the destination and then rent a van once they have arrived at the destination. Commercial carrier is the only legal mode of travel to a destination that is further than two hundred forty miles round-trip from the physical boundaries of Ohio.
PAUL S BUS SERVICE INFORMATION 851-5089 As of Nov. 2010 TO MAKE RESERVATION, FAX: Fax # 851-4081 CALL TO CONFIRM FAX!! Sherry will want a P.O. # Sherry s in charge, not sure of her title As of School year 2008-2009, NEW PRICING Still current prices for 2010-2011 school year. Prices $55 per hour (buses hold 43 high schoolers, said some buses hold 47) No extra charges $330 for 1 bus for 1 day (6 hours, 8:15am to 2:15pm) After first 4 hours, they charge in 15 minute increments to prevent overcharging. $3300 for 1 bus for 10 J-term days $660 for 2 buses for 1 day $6600 for 2 buses for 10 J-term days They charge for 4 hours minimum, regardless of whether or not we use it for a full 4 hours. They have short buses available, but the cost is the same as a big bus! Handicapped bus seats 30.
Rental Vans 9-Passenger Rule By Ohio Department of Education rules, any rental vans used to transport students may not exceed 9 passengers excluding the driver. Therefore, 12 and 15 passenger vans are not allowed and may not be rented. The reason for this is that larger vans are not equipped with rollover protection. Enterprise Van Rental Information (courtesy of Kourtney!) Mason Office, 697-4171 USE THIS ONE, it s closer to CHCA Fax 513-697-4178 12066 Montgomery Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45249 Store hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm, Saturday 9-12pm (Take Kemper to Montgomery, left on Montgomery, go 1.7 miles) Not allowed to take students in vehicles made to seat over 9 passengers! Notes: CHCA account #: 38A9026 Largest is 7-passenger (as of December 2010) No towing of U-haul type storage trailers is allowed. However, overhead storage bins made for the racks ARE allowed. Cargo trucks (with 2 seats & large storage space in back) are available. At least you would not need to be certified, as long as no students ride along. COSTS: FOR ONE DAY: Mini Van rental $55.99/day (seats 7) + 0.26 + 26.99 = $76.24/day, total for 1 van for 1 day 0.26 cents per day per vehicle for license fee. At Pick up: o Have drivers licenses for every driver o 9/29/11 They do not need a credit card to hold the reservation Bring TAX EXEMPT form at pick up (or fax ahead of time 513-697-4178) Enterprise cannot take out the back seat, but they won t know if we do! Gas mileage for mini-van (low 20s on highway, 18 or 19 city) Can we reserve vans a year ahead and lock in at today s price? YES. They can t really guess how much the price will go up by next year. Can we leave our car in their parking lot for the week? yes. Is there a CD player in the mini-van? yes. Need extra room for storage? As of December 2010, U-Haul has 4 x8 cargo trailers for $14.95/day. But Enterprise rentals are not allowed to tow. Only if we borrow someone s personal vehicle.
Use of Personal Vehicles ***Please note: anyone who volunteers to allow their vehicle to be used for school trips should know that their personal insurance would be relied upon in the event of an accident; the insurance company would like us to make this very clear.*** Anyone staff or parent who drives students in their personal vehicle must have completed the Transportation Agreement for Personal Vehicles (attached and posted on the Parent Page of the website). The vehicle must be briefly inspected by one of CHCA s maintenance staff. Please contact Bill Taylor at 283-3713, to schedule this inspection. The size and mileage limitations that apply to school vans and buses do not apply to personal vehicles, as long as they are used on a volunteer basis. Questions? Please feel free to contact Sarah at x256 or Kathy at x254 anytime.