Eligibility and Routing

Eligibility Information

Transportation eligibility for DPS students is determined by the Board of Education's Policy EEAA.

Grade and Walk-Distance

Students in kindergarten through grade five must reside more than one mile from their boundary/home school.
Students in grade 6-8 must reside more than 2.5 miles from their boundary/home school.
Students in grades 9-12 must reside more than 2.5 miles from their boundary/home school.

Please note: In cases of a hazard, such as Hampden Ave., for Hamilton and any elementary school whose boundary crosses Federal Blvd., an exception would be made. For questions, contact transportation@dpsk12.org.

Boundary Schools

If you’re not sure what your student’s boundary school is, click on the button below and enter your address. The interactive map will list the schools within your boundary and give you additional information.

Click to find your boundary school »

Additional Eligibility Requirements

Transportation is not guaranteed, so always consult our department for student eligibility if you are not sure.

Your child is eligible for transportation if:

he/she is attending their boundary school and is outside of the “no transport/walk zone.”
he/she is attending a district-wide program with approved transportation.
he/she has an Individual Education Plan (IEP) with transportation as a related service.

All students, regardless of age or grade, who reside in areas where transportation is unable to access (i.e. apartment complexes, housing developments and home associations) must walk to the nearest safe corner regardless of walk distance.

Please note: If your student does not meet the DPS Transportation eligibility criteria as approved by the Board of Education, and you would like him or her to ride the bus, you can fill out an online Exception Request form via the Parent Portal.

Click here to find out more about the Exception Request »

Shuttle Schools

Students who attend a shuttle school are automatically eligible for transportation, regardless of how far/close they live to the school. They may board the shuttle at whichever stop/time works best for their family. Please click the button below for information on schools that use the Success Express Shuttle.

Click here to find out more about shuttle schools »

BoE Policy Documents

Additional Board of Education documents related to transportation.

EEA – Support Services
EEA-R1 – Regulation for Transportation of Students in School Buses
EEA-R2 – Student Transportation in Private Vehicles
EEAEAA – Drug and Alcohol Testing for Drivers
EEAEAA-R – Regulation for Alcohol and Drug Testing for Drivers
JICC – Student Conduct on School Buses
JICC-R – Student Conduct on School Buses
JJH – Student Travel and Field Trips
JJH-R – Regulation Regarding Student Travel and Field Trips
EEAFB – Use of School Buses by Community Groups
EEAFB-R – Regulations for Use of School Buses by Community Groups

For more Board Documents, click here.

No Transport/Walk Zones

DPS Transportation calculates the distance a student resides from school based on walking miles and not driving miles using Versatrans, a student transportation management solution employed by school districts across the nation to coordinate day-to-day transportation needs.

Versatrans does factor in instances where a student can safely walk through a park to get to school, thereby shortening the walking miles between residence and school. The software does not, however, find the shortest route possible by factoring in hazardous walk areas, or by having students cut through yards, climb fences, or walk through alleys.

Routing Information

Housed at our Hilltop Terminal Administration Building, our Routing Department works to analyze the student records of over 90,000 students to determine eligibility and safe access to transportation to and from school.

How are routes developed?

The routing department starts by looking at how many buses are needed to get the total number of students to a specific school on time.

Services

Click the buttons below to learn more about the different types of services offered by Transportation Services.

Standard Route Transportation » Enrollment Zone Transportation » Success Express Shuttle » CommuteDPS » DPS RTD Bus Pass Program » Special Education Transportation » Multilingual Education Transportation »