MyAPEEE
New seating and safety protocol on school buses (as of 16 November 2020)
New seating and safety protocol on school buses (as of 16 November 2020)
APEEE Transport WG
Brussels, 12 November 2020
In the interest of improving the safety conditions for our pupils and staff on board of our school buses; considering the need to enable the tracing by COCOM of close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases; and taking account of the recent decisions of the school management (11 November) regarding the conditions for resuming teaching in situ as of 16 November 2020;
The APEEE Transport WG has taken the following decisions with immediate effect:
Seating arrangements
- A delimitation of three distinctive zones will be introduced on all our buses corresponding to the three educational levels (MAT / P / S).
- The three zones will be separated by one empty row (to the extent possible).
- All pupils will be asked to sit exclusively in their respective zone, together with pupils belonging to the same educational level, no exceptions will be granted (unless siblings).
- Siblings will continue to be seated together. If siblings belong to different educational levels, they will be placed at the last row of the zone of the younger sibling.
- A virtual representation of this scheme can be found attached, for your information. The specific seating plans will be adjusted on the basis of the composition of each bus line (and for each of the three circuits).
Morning
MAT and P pupils will be requested to occupy always the same seat on the bus, next to pupils of their choice (always the same), in their respective zones.
S pupils will be seated in their zone, towards the back of the bus. Fewer rows will be reserved for this zone, considering that only part of S pupils will have classes in situ each week.
S pupils will also be requested to occupy the same seat in the course of each week.
First departure
MAT and P pupils will be requested to occupy always the same seat on the bus, next to pupils of their choice (always the same), in their respective zones.
The last rows at the back of each bus will be reserved for S pupils enrolled in buses of the first departure.
Second departure
MAT / P pupils, enrolled in the buses of the second departure following their extracurricular activities, will be seated in the first rows of the bus (separately per level), and also separated by an empty row from S pupils.
S pupils will be requested to leave one empty seat next to them, considering that only part of S pupils will have classes in situ each week. If not possible, S pupils should choose their sitting partner (always the same), and occupy the same seat on the bus.
Transport enrolment - update
No pupil will be admitted to a bus that does not fully correspond to his/her official transport enrolment.
Parents are requested to consult the transport enrolments and to introduce any changes deemed necessary (e.g. in case MAT / P pupil no longer follows an extracurricular activity).
For S pupils, double enrolments in the afternoon will not be allowed. Parents should choose the departure that corresponds to the official school schedule of their children.
No occasional changes will be accepted under no circumstances throughout this period.
Notification of COVID-19 cases
The APEEE communication to parent to notify confirmed COVID-19 cases will now include the following elements:
- The bus line concerned (separately for morning, first departure, second departure, Wednesday departure).
- The last day that the child concerned came to school and / or used the bus.
- The educational level of the child concerned (MAT / P / S), which should serve as an extra warning for those pupils sitting in the same zone (while the notification will be sent to all pupils enrolled on the bus).
- A numerical accumulation of positive cases per line over a fixed period (past 15 days).
Obligatory use of face masks
No MAT / P / S pupil will be admitted on the bus (morning or afternoon) without wearing an appropriate face mask.
Parents that may disagree with this decision will be invited to transfer their children to and from school by their proper means. Zero-tolerance will be shown on the application of this decision (taken by the APEEE board on 29 September 2020).
If a medical condition prevents a child from using a face mask, parents are invited to contact the APEEE Transport Office and provide the necessary medical certificate accordingly.
Parents are kindly reminded to always provide their children with spare masks.
Application of further measures
APEEE reserves the right to take any decision deemed appropriate, in order to secure the safety of pupils on board. In close consultation with the school management, APEEE will decide on a possible suspension of a bus line, if a confirmed cluster is created due to several positive cases reported within the same timeframe.
APEEE will further deliberate with the school management and COCOM on applying a tracing protocol and a possible follow-up.