School transportation question?

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We are practicing and playing games on a field about 10 miles away, still in the county and school district. (Due to football field renovations)

I checked OHSAA (and search threads on here) and found that the school must provide transportation to any games/previews/scrimmages but NOT practices. I am curious about the home games, does the school have to transport them to and from the game since it is not at the school?

Obviously, this would increase costs to the program if they had to provide buses for every game. Also there are several players that would have to drive past the field to get to the HS just to get on the bus and go back where they came from.

 

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I know at our HS the players have to be transported as a team, but can be "signed out" after the event. Not sure if it is school rules or OHSAA rules though.

 

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That is very interesting our school field is not at the school either or is the boys baseball field. The school has a bus for the boys everyday it is not mandatory to take to the field. All the players be it baseball or softball meet at the field prior to leaving for the away games. It is the girls responsibility to get to the field no bus provided.

 

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That is very interesting our school field is not at the school either or is the boys baseball field. The school has a bus for the boys everyday it is not mandatory to take to the field. All the players be it baseball or softball meet at the field prior to leaving for the away games. It is the girls responsibility to get to the field no bus provided.

If I read that correctly you have a serious title IX issue. Getting the baseball players to the field and not the softball players is blatant unfairness.

 

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That is only the tip of the iceberg there is nothing fair about our school ball. I always thought my daughter would graduate from this school after this year I don't see it happening. 10 years in this district but boy it is going down the tubes quickly. The drug usage and tolerance has even surprised me! I know it is out there and has always been and probably always will be. Couple this with the politics and we have had our fill. Thank goodness this year my dd is driving.

 

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Ball4Life, it sounds like you have some issues at your school. Sorry to hear that.

Gopher, all schools have to transport their teams for away games (OHSAA) and may release them to ride home with parents.

But our situation is the ball field we are using this year isn't located at the school, so I didn't know if they would have to provide transportation to the local field for HOME games as well as for away games. And I believe I read it correctly that they do NOT have to transport for practices.

Right now parents and upper classmen are driving the team to the ball field for practice only. I don't think anyone really has a problem with this, but could if they have to go to the HS before home games to catch a bus.

 

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Ball4Life and BulldogCoach:

You have legitimate complaints if all sports are not subjected to the same inconveniences you are describing. Every school district is required to have a Title IX coordinator and a procedure for addressing complaints.

Ask the principal or superintendent who the Title IX coordiantor is for the school district. Check out the websites.

http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/

http://www.nwlc.org/

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/aboutocr.html

 

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I have seen many schools show up to games in cars not buses, not sure if you should let kids drive but they should be able to ride with parents

 

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if some of the kids didnt drive, they wouldnt make it to the games. not all parents can squiggle their work schedules to get them there. if you are able to do so, maybe you could help out with the driving. i worked nights, so when the school had games, i always had a car full and was glad to be able to help..

 

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There is a legal issue with a driver under 18 having more than one underage person in the car without a parent or guardian present. There is also a huge liability issue for the school to have the girls driving them self. Never seizes to amaze me with how little common sense some school administrators have.

 

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I have seen it where parents drive the girls, may 4 parents take the whole team.

 

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In my 99% useless opinion, there shouldn't be a liability issue. (I do realize there probably IS an issue.) To me it's no different than someone inviting a friend over for dinner, the friend gets in an accident on the way to my house, now I have liability for that? Perhaps some lawyers and judges think so, I do not. But I have this crazy notion that we should all be responsible for taking care of our own coffee when we buy it in a drive through and not be able to sue someone because it was hot. Makes me ill seeing all the ambulance chasing law firms advertising all the time about law suits for this drug or that implant, yet people wonder why meds are so expensive?

What does this rant have to do with school transportation and softball? This misplaced notion of liability is a huge part of what is driving costs so high for pay to play and school in general. (along with almost everything else BTW) If/when the time comes that softball clubs have to be liable for everything connected with participation on their team, they will cease to exist. How much would the team fees be if your travel team had to provide certified and heavily insured transportation to every practice and tournament? It's just nonsense.

As a parent, I would be happy to provide the transportation of my own kid to games and practices if that kept costs reasonable. (I'm going anyway most of the time.) Yet, that doesn't seem to be an option.

 

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DD attends a private high school...they do not provide transportation for athletes. Students/parents are responsible for getting players to sporting events.

 

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Of the two schools that I'm associated with:
1. Field is not at the school but is less than a quarter mile away with a bike path that leads to it. Players must get there on there own for practices and home games. Away games have buses TO the game but not always FROM the game. Parents can sign out players if there is a bus, any adult can sign out players if there is no bus.

2. Other school has fields about three miles from school. Shuttles get athletes to facilities for practices and home games or they can drive themselves. Away games have buses TO and FROM the games and players are strongly encouraged to ride the buses as a team. In some circumstances, parents ONLY can transport students home.

 

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I was only wondering if there was a rule that said they had to provide transportation to/from the field for 1) practices 2) home games - since the field is about 5- 7 miles away.

Neither is an issue for me. My DD rides with one of the older girls to practice (when it is right after school) and we only live about a mile from the school so if she had to ride the bus to a HOME game that wouldn't be a problem for us.

I was actually concerned that the school HAD to provide a ride for practices (because of the cost), that's when I starting thinking about home games. OHSAA says no to practices regardless of where they are held, but I still wasn't sure about home games...hence the post.

If the school is forced to take a bus for the home game, this could potentially annoy some parents that live close to the field we're using. I, too, would personally not want to drive by the road the field is on to take my DD to the school so she could ride a bus to where we just passed. This was my only concern. We're all hoping that a bus doesn't have to be taken to a home game.

 

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We are practicing and playing games on a field about 10 miles away, still in the county and school district. (Due to football field renovations)

I checked OHSAA (and search threads on here) and found that the school must provide transportation to any games/previews/scrimmages but NOT practices. I am curious about the home games, does the school have to transport them to and from the game since it is not at the school?

Obviously, this would increase costs to the program if they had to provide buses for every game. Also there are several players that would have to drive past the field to get to the HS just to get on the bus and go back where they came from.

Please look at the OHSAA by-laws again. I think you will find that OHSAA recommends that schools provide transportation to and from games.

18. Transportation To and From Interscholastic Contests

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It is the responsibility of the Board of Education or other governing board of a member school to provide for the safe transportation of student-athletes and other contest participants to and from athletic events. The OHSAA Catastrophe Accident Insurance Policy covers team or group travel directly to and from a covered event. A covered event is defined by the OHSAA (the authorized policy holder) as any regular-season (includes scrimmages and previews) or tournament competition in an interscholastic athletic event in an OHSAA-recognized sport, sponsored by the Board of Education or governing board of a member school. Travel must be supervised by staff members or designated representatives of the member school.

Therefore, it is recommended that schools require student-athletes and other participants in interscholastic athletic events to travel with their school squads in school-authorized carriers. It is not recommended that students be released to travel with parents or other persons; however, permission to make alternative travel arrangements remains the purview of the Board of Education/governing board of the member school. In the event that such alternative arrangements are approved, it is strongly recommended that the Board of Education secure proof of insurance from those who will be providing the transportation.​

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Our school district only supplies bus service on school days during the Spring season. Our coach requires everyone ride to and from the game on the bus because she feels it is part of the experience of HS ball. The boosters considered saving money by only using buses to get to games, but the coach nixed it when she realized she'd have to catch a ride back from a player's parent. :lmao:

People are supposed to get pre-approved by the district in order to drive other people's kids to/from a game (when we have to provide our own transportation). Some parents submitted the forms this Winter and all were turned down because their insurance coverage didn't meet the required minimums. We have games on 6 more non-school days and we're crossing our fingers nothing happens when a player is riding with someone else.

 

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Just wanted to know if they would have to transport the team for their home games since the field isn't at our school (its 7 miles away). We don't want them to have to transport them because that would not be a convenience for many of the girls.

It is our schools policy to provide transportation for away games and all players must ride to the games but may be released to ride home with a parent. It has to be a good reason for them to not ride the bus home.