Transportation
The Carmel Central School District maintains and operates a fleet of 108 buses, which includes 66 passenger buses, 30 passenger buses, various sized vehicles including vans and passenger wheelchair buses. Each year, the fleet logs more than 1,300,000 miles. The District transports children to over 31 different instructional facilities daily. This includes local public schools as well as BOCES or nonpublic programs. State law requires that districts transport students to nonpublic schools which are a maximum of 15 miles from their residence. Transportation is vital the operation of the school district. Over 4,700 public and non-public school students are transported daily to and from school. The Board of Education policy on transportation states that 'it shall be provided to resident students who live at least 0.7 miles from the school they attend or 0.7 miles from a regular bus stop, to a maximum of 15 miles.
Contact
Concerns or questions regarding your child’s transportation experience should be directed first to the Supervisor of Transportation:
Michael Klenotiz
Supervisor of Transportation
845-225-3200
mklenoti@carmelschools.org
If more information is needed, or you still have questions and/or concerns, you may contact John Fink, assistant superintendent for business, at 845-878-2094 ext. 215.
If you feel your questions and/or concerns have not been adequately addressed at the preceding levels, the next step would be to attend a meeting of the Board of Education’s Facilities and Transportation Committee. Committee meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month prior to regular Board of Education meetings. Please consult the online school calendar for actually dates, times, and locations.
Resources & Forms
Transportation Requests for Private Schools
Transportation requests for childcare transportation and transportation to private schools must be made in writing by April 1. If the parent or guardian of a child does not live in the District on April 1, he/she must submit a written request within 30 days after establishing residence in the district. Requests made after April 1 may be granted, subject to available space, provided that granting the request would not add to transportation costs.
The childcare facility and/or private school must be within the school district and within the attendance area of the school the child will attend. Transportation must be from the same location each morning and back to the same location each afternoon. Transportation to and from different locations, depending on the day of the week, cannot be permitted.
Transportation requests for transportation to private and parochial schools must be made to our transportation office in writing by April 1 of each year. If a request is made after April 1,the district consider the request and will provide the transportation only if it can be done at no additional cost to the district.
Where do you go with a transportation question or concern?
Concerns or questions regarding your child’s transportation experience should be directed first to the Supervisor of Transportation, Michael Klenotiz at (845) 225-3200 or mklenoti@carmelschools.org. If more information is needed, or you still have questions and/or concerns, you may contact John Fink, assistant superintendent for business, at 845-878-2094 ext. 215.
If you feel your questions and/or concerns have not been adequately addressed at the preceding levels, the next step would be to attend a meeting of the Board of Education’s Facilities and Transportation Committee. Committee meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month prior to regular Board of Education meetings. Please consult the online school calendar for actually dates, times, and locations.
Bus Identification System
Specific numbers identifies routes. The route number will be displayed on a card located on the windshield of the bus. (The number of the bus is no longer used for identification.) Please be sure your child is aware of this route identification system.
Bus Passes
Children in grades K-5 have been given a bus pass to be used when entering and exiting the bus. This program was implemented last year and will be used every year for your children. The purpose is for the safety of your child. When the pass is used as designed we will be able to know at any time where your child boarded the bus and where they exited the bus. If your child does not use the pass the program will not work for them.
Please remind your children of the importance of using the pass every day and insist that they do so. When a card gets lost we can replace it. If a child continually loses or refuses to use their card we will reach out to you to discuss how to correct the problem. The drivers have also been asked to help the students to remember to use their cards daily.
If you should have any questions please call the Transportation Department at 845-225-3200.
Rules of Conduct
Safety is our first priority. Because your child's safety is our business, it is essential that students behave appropriately while riding the school bus. Any student whose conduct is unacceptable may be suspended from school transportation. Under New York State education law, if a child is permanently suspended from school transportation, it becomes the parent or guardian's responsibility to transport the child to and from school.