To request transportation use one of the following forms:
Important Information
Here are some key points to remember about scheduling field trips using PGCPS school buses:
- Trips may not be approved due to limited bus availability on the following dates due to mandatory bus inspections:
- October 27 through November 30, 2024
- February 23 through March 21, 2025
- The final date for trips this school year is May 17, 2025
- The final date for all CBI/CRI, Job Sampling, and Work-Study buses is May 16, 2025
- Board of Education Policy Number 2513.2 prohibits scheduling tests, meetings, workshops, trips, or other special activities, such as taking student pictures or athletic events during or after the regular school day on days of religious observance as indicated on the official school calendar. The holiday begins at sunset of the preceding day; this includes Oct 3 (Rosh Hashanah), Oct 12 (Yom Kippur), Oct 31 (Diwali), March 31 (Eid al-Fitr), Apr 13 (Passover).
- Trips must not start before 9:30 a.m. and buses must return to the school by 1:15 p.m.
- Trip requests must be received in the Transportation Department ten (10) business days before the trip.
- WHEN CANCELLING A TRIP, THE SCHOOL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR NOTIFYING TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE by email at Field.Trips@pgcps.org. Failure to do so will result in a minimum one-hour charge billed to the school on school days and a three-hour minimum on non-school days. In case of inclement weather, the trip must be canceled before the bus arrives at the school. Cancellations of weekend trips must be made by noon on Friday before the trip takes place.
- The number of passengers may not exceed 49 seating capacity. No standees are permitted.
- Zoo trips may only be taken on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.
- The Department of Transportation is requesting all schools that plan trips to the zoo ensure that their buses are back by 1:15 in order to reach this goal, students must return to their buses no later than 12:30 p.m. PGCPS afternoon dismissal buses waiting for contracted commercial carrier trip buses will not be held at schools longer than 10 minutes.
- Trips shall be for educational purposes only. Buses shall not be used for picnics, social activities, or to transport spectators. Non-instructional and non-educational trips must be submitted to the Regional Assistant.
- Superintendent’s office before submittal to the Transportation Department, i.e., skating, bowling, swimming, restaurants, etc. All trips going out of Prince George’s County must have regional approval. Keep in mind that the school should submit requests. The region office does not request transportation. Please adhere to the regional approval process for our students' safety, security, and identification.
- Trips will be billed at a rate of $105.68 per hour with a minimum of one hour. This includes Howard B. Owens Science Center and William Schmidt Center trips.
- All confirmation will be done through email at Field.Trips@pgcps.org.
- The cost will be automatically taken from the School Operating Resource (SOR) account by Oracle. The school will be responsible to reimburse this account if payment is from other sources.
Camp Schmidt
Once the schools have confirmed their trips, Camp Schmidt will submit a bus schedule to Transportation. Transportation will automatically arrange two regular buses. Each will hold 30 students plus luggage. Any deviation from this must be sent via email to field.trips@pgcps.org. The average time of trips is 6.5 hours per bus. Camp Schmidt will be billed directly for these trips.
HBO Science Center
Howard B. Owens Science Center will issue a calendar. Please review and confirm trips and class sizes with the Center. Once the schools have confirmed their trips, the Science Center will submit a schedule to Transportation. Transportation will automatically arrange the necessary amount of regular buses unless instructed otherwise. Any deviation from the schedule must be sent via email to field.trips@pgcps.org.
THE SCHOOL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR NOTIFYING THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT AND HOWARD B. OWENS SCIENCE CENTER BEFORE CANCELLING. Notification must be made 24 hours prior to the trip. If the trip is not canceled within the time limit, the school will be billed for a minimum of one hour.
Activity Buses
Activity buses are being billed at $105.68 per hour. Pick-up times are after 6:00 p.m. The last day buses are available is May 10, 2024. Allow ten (10) business days for processing. Please use the following form to request an Activity bus:
Program changes are to be submitted to their school's router or to barbara.clowe@pgcps.org
Athletics
Transportation for an entire season will be submitted at one time from the Athletic Supervisor. This includes transportation for cheerleaders, band, ROTC, or any additional buses needed. If transportation is needed outside of the initial schedule submitted, transportation would only be granted if the request is made more than 24 hours prior to the event and an “athletic bus” is available. All other requests will have to adhere to the trip guidelines. Although there is only one bus per school daily, requests for more may be granted. Playoff and championship schedules should be submitted via email as soon as possible. All playoff games over the 50-mile radius should be submitted to the Regional Assistant Superintendent and Director of Transportation in advance for approval. Additional buses will be billed to the school’s SOR account unless another account number is submitted.
Commercial Carriers
The Transportation Department has secured Consolidated Safety Services, Inc. to approve and monitor private commercial carrier companies that transport PGCPS students. The Transportation Department will be notified of which companies have been approved. A list of these carriers will be accessible through the Purchasing Department link on the PGCPS intraweb. If you are planning to schedule a trip with a company that is not on the approved list, please refer them to Pupil Safety Division at, 703-877-3303.
For more information, please read Bulletin Trips Guidelines
