Bend-La Pine rolls out all-new school bus routes

With the start of school next week, many parents are getting their kids ready, shopping for school supplies and clothes and preparing lunches.

But even if you don’t have kids, there are some changes you might want to be prepared for.

Each year, Bend La Pine Schools updates school bus routes — but this year, with the addition of North Star Elementary School, they started from scratch.

In addition to all-new routes, this year brings all-new school bus stops. That means any place you saw kids waiting for the bus last year will be different, starting next week.

The school district began working on the changes at the beginning of summer and just finished them Aug. 1.

Once they finished laying out the new routes, drivers began driving the routes, making sure the routes make use of streets usable to buses — not private drives or side streets.

The new routes are only available to parents with a student’s birthday and student ID number.

Kim Crabtree, the director of transportation for Bend La Pine Schools, said Tuesday people who don’t have kids in school and access to the bus routes are ” just going to have to pay attention. Just know that we drive down almost every main road and some smaller neighborhood roads. ”

With the change in routes and bus stops, the school district wants to remind people of the dangers to kids when they don’t obey school bus laws.

Crabtree said last year they had five to six incidents a day when drivers passed a school bus when the red lights were flashing.

A video was just released to remind drivers about school-zone safety and when it’s required to stop — and when a driver can safely pass a school bus. You can see the video here.