SITE BASED DECISION-MAKING
The Bellingham School District is committed to a collaborative planning, problem solving, and decision-making process
for achieving school improvement. Site councils have been formed at every school to achieve this goal. Site councils
are advisory councils consisting of parents, teachers, and classified staff members. The primary goal of site council
is school improvement.
Legally local school boards cannot delegate hiring, discharge, probation, salaries, evaluation, instructional material,
budgets, and various other tasks to site councils. However, site councils may be significantly involved in decision
making, as long as the role of the site council remains advisory. The principal and school board have the ultimate
responsibility for implementing programs.
SUPPLIES
Your child's teacher may be sending home a list of personal supplies that will be needed in the classroom. The teacher may also ask that your child purchase a weekly
news magazine. You will be notified if this is the case.
TRANSPORTATION
If you transport your child to school, please drop him/her off in the parent pick-up/drop off area, regardless
of what time you bring them. Please pull to the front of the circle. Also, please do not park in the pick-up/drop
off area before 9:15a.m. and between 2:15 and 4:00p.m.
BICYCLES
Children are permitted to ride bicycles to school provided they operate their bikes in a safe manner. We recommend
helmets be worn and bikes be walked to the racks by the annex building and the office. We also recommend bikes
for grades 3-5 only, however the ultimate decision is yours.
CITY BUS
Occasionally children use the city bus system for transportation to and from school. The use of the city bus is
the responsibility of the parent, parent designed and arranged.
SCHOOL BUS
Bus transportation is provided by the school district for children who live a distance of two miles or more.
Our bus drivers are highly trained and experienced. But they do need our cooperation and support. If your child
is a bus rider, please talk with him/her about the kind of behavior that you expect at the bus stop and on the
bus. Your help in this regard will be appreciated.
If your child usually walks, but needs to ride the bus, there is a change to a different bus on a particular day,
or needs to get off at a different stop, please send a note to the office. A pink permission slip will be issued
for your child to give to the bus driver. Please include your child's full name, the name of the student they are
going home with and the date.
WALKING
If your child usually rides the bus to and from school, but would like to walk home, we must have a note for our
files. You may write one note giving your child permission to walk home any time during the year, or a note for
each specific time they are allowed to walk.
Parent Handbook--Site
Based to Transportation