Foster Care Support and Assistance

If you have questions regarding how the district can support foster care families, please reach out to Sandy Larson, foster care liaison, at [email protected] or 520-458-5082 ext. 1004. FHASD works with the Arizona Department of Child Safety to support the needs of foster care students.

FHASD Foster Care Transportation Plan

Attestation

The district, in collaboration with the CWA, will ensure that transportation will be provided for the duration of the child(ren)'s time in foster care.

Transportation During the BID Process

The Executive Director of Instruction and Achievement, the foster care point of contact, and administrator of the district's Federal Programs, would notify the Director of Facilities and Transportation that a foster child(ren) requires transportation. Notification would be by phone followed up by an email. Transportation would be activated within a 24-hour period. The method of transportation would be determined by looking at the student’s placement residential address to ascertain if there is school bus transportation in that area already available via regular bus routes. The second consideration would be if the student was special education which would qualify transportation on that bus route. If none of the previous factors were applicable, we would look at other options such as if the caregiver could transport the student, modification of our current bus routes, or transport the student by an alternate method like an activity bus or Superintendent authorized district car with an approved employee driver. If the student’s foster care residence was outside the district boundaries, we would look at the possibility of the caregiver transporting or an alternate method like an activity bus or district car. There is no public transportation available on or to the military installation so this would not be an option. We would strive to set up transportation during the BID process that would be possible to continue long term after the BID outcome to allow for stability for the student. However, this would be dependent on the circumstances of the outcome of the BID process.

Transportation Plan for Children in Foster Care to their School of Origin

Once the BID process was complete and potential long-term transportation would be needed for the student, we would reassess the transportation that was set up during the BID process to ensure the district could maintain it or if modification would be needed. If modification was needed, we would again, determine the best method of transportation by looking at the student’s placement residential address to ascertain if there is school bus transportation in that area already available via regular bus routes. The second consideration would be if the student was special education which would qualify transportation on that bus route. If none of the previous factors were applicable, we would look at other options such as if the caregiver could transport the student, modification of our current bus routes, or transport the student by an alternate method like an activity bus or Superintendent authorized district car with an approved employee driver. If the student’s foster care residence was outside the district boundaries, we would look at the possibility of the caregiver transporting or an alternate method like an activity bus or district car. There is no public transportation available on or to the military installation so this would not be an option. Modification of transportation would be done by the Executive Director of Instruction and Achievement by phone followed by email to the Director of Facilities and Transportation with no loss of transportation being provided to the student between the BID in process and the completion of the BID process.

Foster Care Additional Costs

District to seek reimbursement from the CWA

The district would seek reimbursement from the CWA if the student had to be transported outside the district boundaries. This would be necessary as the expense to the district would be significantly increased in the cost of additional personnel to transport and vehicle fuel and upkeep costs. If the student’s foster care residence was outside the district boundaries, we would look at the possibility of the caregiver transporting or an alternate method like an activity bus or district car. There is no public transportation available on or to the military installation so this would not be an option. This determination would be solely based on the foster residence being out of district not by any specific mileage amount or dollars spent. Reimbursement would be sought through invoicing the CWA for the cost calculated to transport the student to the district school of origin.

District to solely provide transportation

The district would solely provide transportation if the student lived within the distinct boundaries as this could be provided at minimal cost with more options such as possibly integrating the pick-up into existing school bus routing. Transportation would be provided by school bus or an alternate vehicle such as an activities bus or district car. There is no public transportation available on the military installation. There is no mileage or cost determination that would trigger sole transportation by the district if the foster student was located in the district boundaries.

Cost sharing with CWA

The district would cost share with CWA if the student had to be transported from out of district boundaries. The district would consider that the CWA share the cost by the CWA transporting the student from the out of district residence to the nearest district school bus stop or an in district designated pick-up area for a transfer of transportation in a district vehicle such as an activity bus or district car. This cost sharing trigger would not be dependent on a number of miles or a dollars spent for transporting the student.