Bus Routes

Generally, four-year-old students are provided transportation under the same conditions as all other elementary school students. If you live less than one and one-half miles away from your attendance area school, and your child is in 4K, you may submit an application for bus service.  These applications are due during the summer before your child starts 4K.  Transportation is provided on an “as available” basis.  Determinations regarding space on existing routes will be made within the first two weeks of the school year and transportation will begin during the third week of the year.  This exception is only available for 4K students.  The District will not provide transportation to siblings, relatives or friends of the 4K student.

Applications for 4K bus service will not generally be accepted during the school year except when a family experiences a significant change in circumstances (onset of parent health condition) or moves into the District after the school year has already begun.

4K Bus Stop Locations

For the before school (morning 4K)  and after school (afternoon 4K) runs, 4K students will be picked-up and dropped-off with all other elementary students at the established bus stops.  For the mid-day run, students attending morning 4K will be dropped off in front of their house (or at the closest safe location in situations where the bus cannot safely maneuver) and students attending afternoon 4K will be picked-up from in front of their house (or at the closest safe location in situations where the bus cannot safely maneuver).

4K Drop-off Procedures

When a child attends a morning 4K session, the student is dropped off in front of their house (or closest safe location) and the District requires that a parent or responsible adult meet the bus to accept the student.

When a child attends an afternoon 4K session, the student is dropped off with all other elementary students at the established bus stop servicing the neighborhood.  The District highly recommends that a parent or responsible adult be at the bus stop to meet the 4K student.

Elementary school-aged students (4-year-old kindergarten through fifth grade) who live in the MMSD and who attend their attendance area MMSD school are eligible for District-provided, yellow bus transportation if their pick-up location (residence or childcare location) is located more than one and one-half (1.5) miles from the attendance area elementary school or they reside in an area identified as an unusually hazardous zone in which transportation is offered.

9th – 12th: The District does not generally provide transportation to high-school-aged students (grades nine through twelve). Rather, the District and City of Madison work cooperatively to ensure that Madison Metro Transit routes are available to students as a primary means of transportation. Yellow bus transportation is provided to neighborhoods where no public transportation is available. District-provided Metro passes are available for students who:

1. Reside within the boundaries of the school attendance area
2. Reside more than one and one-half (1.5) miles from their attendance area school.
3. Have demonstrable financial need, including qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

6th – 8th: Currently, this also applies to middle-school-aged students (grades six through eight). However, beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, a transition will begin through the implementation of a three year phase in plan to accommodate later middle school start times. More information can be found here.