Special Education Transportation Program



Dear Parents/Guardians, 

The Needham Public Schools provides free transportation to children, whose Individual Education Program (IEP) includes the provision of special education transportation, as well as to other students who qualify under the McKinney Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act and other federal programs.   Our goal is to provide safe and reliable transportation for all students in need of this service and in order to do so we would like to provide information about our transportation policies and procedures. 

IMPORTANT TRANSPORTATION PROCEDURES: 
Transportation for your child can be provided from/to your home in Needham or another regular Needham address (e.g. childcare address in Needham).   
Information about your student’s transportation needs, including schedule and pick-up/drop-off locations must be approved through the Special Education Department and communicated to the Transportation Department. 
Due to the routing of vans to accomplish efficient routes for all students, scheduling or routing changes on a one-time or short-term basis are not allowed. 
Permanent changes in schedule or location within Needham are allowed. 
If the Special Education Team, including parents, agrees that transportation to a different location after school is necessary in order to meet a student’s IEP services, the IEP should reflect the transportation needs and the district will provide transportation. 
If a student has an after-school activity as part of her/his IEP, occurring in the Needham Schools, and the school cancels the activity, the parent will be notified about the schedule change. The parent can pick up or the student will wait with an adult monitor until the regular pick-up time. 

STUDENT ABSENCE & CANCELLATION OF TRANSPORTATION: 
For any school absences or occasions when your child will not be taking the special education van to or from school please email the Transportation Office to cancel transportation at [email protected]. The transportation email is monitored starting at 6AM every morning. Phone calls are not always received in enough time to contact the driver. 
To cancel AM pickup, email the Transportation Department by 7AM.
To cancel PM pickup, email the Transportation Department by noon or as soon as possible

We appreciate your adherence to these procedures. If you have concerns about your child’s transportation, please contact the Special Education Office at your child’s level: 
Preschool: 781-455-0416 x 55140 
K-Grade 8: 781-455-0400 x 11233 
High School: 781-455-0800 x 22770 

If you have other questions, please contact one of our team members.

Sincerely,
Mary Lammi, Assistant Superintendent for Support Services
Shane Marchand, Director of Transportation
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