Manteca Unified School District’s first day of school is Thursday, Aug. 6.

Every school day Manteca’s fleet of 72 buses transports an average of 1,430 students from home to school.

In 2013-14, district busses traveled 1,325,424 miles. That’s the equivalent of going to the moon (238,857 miles) and back 2.7 times every year.

Nine years ago the number of students transported was significantly higher for the 23,000-student school district. That was before state budget cuts prompted the district to increase the minimum distance for providing bus transportation between a student’s residence and their school campus.

Walking distance from home to school is now 1.25 miles for kindergarten through eighth graders and 2.5 miles for high school.

Parents can request an exemption to the rule primarily for safety reasons and have their child picked up providing certain criteria are met, if a bus route goes in that direction and it doesn’t add time to the run.

Manteca Unified last year  transported 52 students that qualified for a walking exemption.

The district’s Transportation Department would like to remind all drivers to be extra cautious with school approaching and are offering these safety tips:

uBe alert for any students walking, riding bikes, or waiting at bus stops; especially at dawn and dusk when visibility is reduced.

u12-foot  Danger Zone around the bus. Please remind students to wait for his/her bus 12 ffet back from the bus stop. Do not approach the School Bus until the door opens which is a signal that traffic has stopped and it is safe to enter.

uWhen a school bus activates it yellow warning lights it means it is going to stop to pick-up students and the red lights and stop sign will activate immediately when the bus pulls over.

uNever pass a bus with its red lights flashing and stop sign activated. This is against the law and the fine is upwards of $800. Statistics show two thirds of children killed in bus-related accidents are killed outside the bus.

uWhen a school bus has its red lights on, all traffic in each direction on an undivided highway must stop.

uWhen a bus has its red lights activated on a multilane (two lanes of traffic in each direction) or a divided highway (raised concrete barrier or double parallel lines) only the traffic traveling in the same direction of the bus must stop. When in doubt on whether to stop or not; STOP!…It’s better to err on the side of caution when children are involved.

uExpect children to do the unexpected and slow down at schools when children are present…it’s the law.

The Transportation Department would also like to ask all parents of returning bus riders to please remember to send your children to school with his or her ZPASS Card. If the ZPASS card has been misplaced over the summer you can purchase a new card at the Transportation Department. Please call 209.825.3200 ext. 50444 for any question.

When a student does not provide their ZPASS to ride the bus, a citation will be written for that student, once a student receives three (3) citations for not providing his/her ZPASS, he or she will not be able to board the bus until they either find their pass, or purchase a new ZPASS card for $5.