Information for Parents

Who to Contact

If you have transportation questions or concerns, please contact Prismatic at:

If you would like to get in touch with Ulster County Pre-School and Early Intervention Offices:

If you would like to get in touch with one of the bus companies directly:

Birnie Bus Service – bus routes to programs in Ulster County – 845-288-1285

Orange County Transit – bus routes to programs outside Ulster County – 631-740-6563

In the event of an extreme family emergency which may require a temporary change in your child’s pick-up/drop-off, please contact Prismatic. We will need to know details about the temporary pick-up/drop-off location, the name of the person authorized to receive your child from the stop, as well as a contact number for that authorized person.

Absences/Illnesses

If your child is receiving bus transportation services and will be absent for the whole day, please contact the bus company directly to let them know your child will NOT be riding the bus.

Their numbers are:

• Birnie Bus Service – bus routes to programs in Ulster County – 845-288-1285
• Orange County Transit – bus routes to programs outside Ulster County – 631-740-6563

If your child will be absent from the bus for longer than a day, please contact Prismatic. 

If your child misses the bus in the morning and you want bus transportation in the afternoon, please contact Prismatic.

If your child becomes ill on the way to school the driver will notify dispatch. Dispatch will notify the school to have a staff member meet the bus.

If the child gets sick within 5 minutes of pick-up, the driver/monitor will call the parent and return the child home.

Sick children cannot be transported on the bus. Parents must arrange to pick up a child who becomes ill at school.

Transportation Change Request

Once bus transportation has started for your child, you and your school will need to let us know if a change is needed. The school will submit the change request to Prismatic using the Change Request form. Please note that changes cannot be made in less than 48 hours and may require up to 3-5 days.

If the change results in a different pick up or drop off time for your child, you will receive a phone call from the bus company to let you know about new pick-up/drop-off times, the day before it starts.

Please remember to contact your school for home address changes.

Once you are approved as a vendor by Ulster County, you will need to submit a monthly voucher within 30 days after the end of each month. Be accurate when filling out the voucher and be sure to sign and date it correctly.

• County of Ulster Request for Payment or County of Ulster solicitud de pago

(click above to download a copy)

Once completed, send the voucher to:

Ulster County DSS / Preschool
1071 Development Court
Kingston, NY 12401

Be aware that it can take up to 60 days for your correct voucher to be processed and your reimbursement check to be sent out. If there are errors in your voucher submission, Ulster County will contact you for corrections.

If your address changes, your program changes, or your school district changes, you must fill out a new TRF so that your mileage can be re-adjusted.

If you have questions about PMR, the status of your application, or the status of your reimbursement, you can contact:

• Prismatic at 845-607-0331 or via email at Ulster@PrismaticServices.com
• The Ulster County Preschool office at 845-334-5211

TB testing drug and alcohol screenings, for drivers and monitors are done on pre-employment, post-accident, probable cause, and random basis. In addition, every driver and monitor is required to attend special training sessions and 2 refresher courses each year where they are instructed in the needs of children being transported.

Although not required by law, Ulster County provides an additional safeguard by screening monitors under the same strict guidelines that New York State requires bus drivers be screened.

Bus Drivers and Monitors

While your child is on the bus your child’s safety is in the hands of the driver and monitor. For this reason, Ulster County will only allow the Transporter to use fully qualified drivers and monitors. This means that background checks are done on each driver and monitor, and in-depth training is provided.

All drivers must complete a safety and training program approved by New York State before they can transport children. This program includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Fingerprinting
• Background check
• Motor vehicle check
• Physical examination
• Classroom instruction
• Road testing
• Defensive driving review
• Behind the wheel road test

TB testing drug and alcohol screenings, for drivers and monitors are done on pre-employment, post-accident, probable cause, and random basis. In addition, every driver and monitor is required to attend special training sessions and 2 refresher courses each year where they are instructed in the needs of children being transported.

Although not required by law, Ulster County provides an additional safeguard by screening monitors under the same strict guidelines that New York State requires bus drivers be screened.

Parent/Guardian Responsibilities

We want your child to have a great bus ride! Here is how you can help us make that happen:

• Make sure your child understands that eating and drinking are not allowed on the bus. Please do not send bottles, pacifiers, or toys on the bus. Food or other transportable items should be placed in your child’s backpack.
• Have your child ready to board the bus 10 minutes before the scheduled pick-up time.
• Watch for the bus. The driver is not permitted to blow the horn. The driver is not permitted to wait longer than 3 minutes past the scheduled pick-up time before they must move on to the next stop. Once the bus is in motion, the driver cannot return.
• Remember that due to absences or other student, road conditions, traffic conditions, and/or the weather, buses may run early or late on some days. Your bus company will try to notify you if your bus is running more than 10 minutes early or late.
• Understand that drivers and monitors are not permitted to make any special arrangements with parents. The bus driver will pick up and drop off in front of your home, if possible. However, the driver cannot enter driveways, turn in parking spots, back down roads, go down private roads, or do any maneuver with the bus which is potentially unsafe. In such instances your child will be picked up or dropped off at the nearest cross street.
• Notify the bus company 60 minutes prior to your child’s pick-up time if your child will not be needing the bus to and/or from school on a particular day.
• Notify the bus company if your child leaves school early.
• Notify the bus company if you transported your child to school in the morning, but you would like to have them ride the bus in the afternoon.
• Keep your contact information up to date.
• Have an authorized person at the bus stop each afternoon. A person on your child’s emergency contact list must be at the drop-off location when the bus arrives with photo ID. If someone on your emergency contact list does not have photo ID, we can create a password for them. Contact Prismatic to set one up.
• Make sure the authorized person at the bus stop in the afternoon has a photo ID or password every day. Even if the authorized person has shown ID in the past, please make sure to have ID readily available at all times just in case there is a substitute driver or monitor.
• Understand that if no one is waiting at the bus stop to receive your child, the bus will wait for 3 minutes, then move on to its next destination. The bus will not return until all other children on the bus have been taken home (this may be an extended amount of time). If there is no one at the location once the bus returns, the emergency contact(s) will be called. If an emergency contact cannot be reached, your child will be returned to school.  It will be the parents’ responsibility to pick up the child at the school.

Car Seats

Per the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of New York Traffic Law (VT 1229 C11),

No Person shall operate a school bus unless all passengers under the age of 4 are restrained in a specially designed detachable or removable seat (or other approved restraining device).

The safety of the children in our program is of utmost importance. Therefore, the bus company will supply car seats for all children under the age of 4 as required by law. Children over the age of 4 may be secured on a bus seat with a seat belt while riding a school bus.

With parental permission, the bus company may use additional safety equipment to ensure your child’s safe transport.

Accidents or Medical Emergency

In the event of an accident and/or medical emergency, regardless of the severity, the driver will notify his/her dispatcher who will immediately notify Prismatic. All parents will then be notified by their bus company. The school and Ulster County DSS Preschool will also be notified.

If the driver determines that 911 should be called, no child will be removed from the bus until they are cleared by medical personnel.

School bus accidents fall under New York State’s “No-Fault” rules. If your child requires medical treatment as a result of a school bus accident, you must submit all bills to your automobile insurance company.