Transportation

Walk zones are governed by Minnesota Statute and School District Policy 707. As outlined in policy, walk zones are as follows:

• Woodson Education Center – Transportation options vary by program.
• Banfield, Neveln, Southgate, Sumner – 1 mile or less walk to school.
• IJ Holton – 1 mile or less walk to school.
• Ellis Middle School – 1 mile or less walk to school.
• Austin High School – 1 mile or less walk to school.

Please contact 507-460-1918 or transportation@austin.k12.mn.us if you need additional assistance.

Palmer Bus Service has a lost and found and can be reached at 507-460-1918 or transportation@austin.k12.mn.us.

The City of Austin provides crossing guards at city-determined major street crossings. Parents will be responsible for their children beyond school district property.

Palmer Bus Service administers this service. They can be reached at 507-460-1936 or transportation@austin.k12.mn.us.

You can also contact Palmer at 507-433-5358.

A bus tag will be issued to each student eligible to ride the bus.  A bus tag will be required to ride the bus.

If a student is riding with an instrument, the instrument must fit in the child's lap otherwise other transportation must be arranged for the instrument.

The following items are never allowed on the bus: food, beverages, gum, candy (except when enclosed in a backpack), guns (including toy guns), knives or other sharp objects, gasoline engines or cans, animals, insects, matches, lighters, glass items, aerosol products, laser pens or pointers, skateboards, scooters, balloons or any items of dangerous or objectionable nature.

Stopfinder is a comprehensive parent engagement app crafted by parents, for parents, to keep you informed which will be an added feature to our transportation operations in the fall of 2024. It allows you to receive real-time updates on bus locations, including ETA and Geo Alerts, as well as messages, alerts, and the ability to send forms and other information. No other parent app offers such a wealth of real-time information to parents and school transportation departments.

With Stopfinder, a parent/caregiver will:

• Know the schedule of their child's bus
• Receive push notifications related to their child's bus schedule and any changes, such as bus number or driver changes
• Get real-time information on the location of their child's bus by creating their own alert zones with the upgrade to GeoAlerts
• Notice bus substitutions because they are clearly indicated – reducing misinformation and confusion
• Track multiple buses, a great feature if their children don't ride the same bus.
• Know exactly when their children arrive at school or home
• Enjoy two-way communication with the transportation office
• Provide parents and caregivers with multilingual options in the app

The student must bring a parent permission slip to the school office authorizing the student to ride home on the same bus with your child. The school office is responsible for issuing the bus pass. The ride is only available if there is room on the bus.

The District follows School Board Policy 707 and does not allow families to pay to ride the bus.

The distance will be measured using our bus routing program. The computer program, RouteFinder, uses the Mower County GIS map of the entire district. It is the most accurate and fair measurement of the distance between two points. The measurement is taken from the street center-line of the lot of the student’s primary residence to the center-driveway of the school.

The current school boundaries can be viewed on the Austin School District website. Please click here to view the established boundaries.

The student’s home address will determine the neighborhood school for attendance purposes. The District will allow families to qualify for transportation based on their school age care provider address ONLY if the provider is located within the neighborhood school boundary your student will be attending.

You live in the Neveln Elementary School boundary. Your school age care provider is located more than one mile from Neveln Elementary School. The student would qualify for transportation to and from the provider.

You live in the Neveln Elementary School boundary.  Your school age care provider is located in the Southgate Elementary School boundary.  In this situation, the School District would not provide transportation as the provider is located outside of the neighborhood boundary for Neveln.