Example Job Description
Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator
A safe routes and transportation security coordinator who advances safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
Interview Planning Resource
Possible Interview Q&A: Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator
How to use this resource: Select questions that measure competencies established through the district’s current job analysis. Ask candidates the same predetermined questions under comparable conditions and evaluate responses against the same job-related criteria.
The indicators below describe evidence a strong response may contain; they are not required scripts or the only acceptable answers.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, how would you evaluate a proposed school bus stop or route change?
Strong response indicators: Defines the purpose, scope, governing requirement, timeline, responsible owners, dependencies, controls, communication, contingencies, and evidence of completion. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, routing software recommends a stop that creates an unsafe walking path. What would you do?
Strong response indicators: Verifies authoritative information, protects the affected person and data, follows approved procedures, involves responsible owners, documents facts, and confirms resolution. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, how would you reconcile student addresses across transportation and student systems?
Strong response indicators: Uses systematic diagnosis, representative evidence, root-cause analysis, controlled correction, reconciliation, documentation, and monitoring for recurrence. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, what data should inform arrival and dismissal improvements?
Strong response indicators: Applies least privilege, minimum necessary access, secure channels, appropriate approval, auditability, retention, and prompt escalation of uncertainty or risk. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, a family reports a hazard that is not visible during your first visit. How would you proceed?
Strong response indicators: Communicates the evidence, affected population, operational consequence, uncertainty, available choices, recommended action, accountable owners, and follow-up without unnecessary jargon. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, how would you document safety tradeoffs when no option eliminates all risk?
Strong response indicators: Builds sustainable ownership through clear definitions, role-specific training, useful quality reports, feedback loops, documentation, support, and verification that improvement persists. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, how would you protect student location, ridership, video, and vehicle-location data?
Strong response indicators: Defines the purpose, scope, governing requirement, timeline, responsible owners, dependencies, controls, communication, contingencies, and evidence of completion. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, how would you coordinate transportation during an emergency or reunification?
Strong response indicators: Verifies authoritative information, protects the affected person and data, follows approved procedures, involves responsible owners, documents facts, and confirms resolution. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, what would you do after a serious near miss at a stop?
Strong response indicators: Uses systematic diagnosis, representative evidence, root-cause analysis, controlled correction, reconciliation, documentation, and monitoring for recurrence. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, how would you plan for construction, severe weather, or a road closure?
Strong response indicators: Applies least privilege, minimum necessary access, secure channels, appropriate approval, auditability, retention, and prompt escalation of uncertainty or risk. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, how would you measure equitable access to safe transportation?
Strong response indicators: Communicates the evidence, affected population, operational consequence, uncertainty, available choices, recommended action, accountable owners, and follow-up without unnecessary jargon. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- In the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator role, what would you prioritize during your first 90 days?
Strong response indicators: Builds sustainable ownership through clear definitions, role-specific training, useful quality reports, feedback loops, documentation, support, and verification that improvement persists. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
Position Description
Under the direction of the appropriate district administrator, the Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator coordinates and leads work supporting safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
The position applies safe school travel, bus stop and route risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, pedestrian and bicycle safety, transportation security, incident readiness, data quality, and community coordination across transportation routing, geographic information, student information, address validation and geocoding, ridership and eligibility, vehicle location and telematics, stop-arm and onboard video within authorized use, dispatch, driver and vehicle records, work orders, incident reporting, weather and road information, and family communication systems. It establishes or follows clear ownership, validation, security, documentation, review, and escalation practices appropriate to the role’s assigned authority.
The Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator collaborates with students, families, drivers, dispatchers, transportation leaders, school administrators, campus safety, special education, homeless and foster youth liaisons, facilities, technology, data stewards, local government, traffic engineering, public works, law enforcement, transit, bicycle and pedestrian partners, and transportation vendors. The role is accountable for cross-functional planning, ownership, calendars, training, quality control, escalation, and continuous improvement while protecting confidential information and keeping local decisions traceable.
Reports To
Insert your school district’s specific reporting relationship here.
Required Education and Credentials
Required
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in transportation planning, traffic safety, urban or regional planning, geography, public administration, emergency management, logistics, information systems, or a closely related field. Additional qualifying experience may be substituted where permitted by district policy.
- Successful completion of all district-required employment and driving clearances applicable to the assignment.
- Completion of role-required pupil transportation, school bus stop and route, emergency management, student privacy, accessibility, GIS or routing-system, and incident-reporting training within established timelines.
Preferred
- Graduate coursework in transportation planning, traffic engineering, public administration, geography, emergency management, or a related field.
- Professional learning or certification in pupil transportation, road safety, Safe Routes to School, GIS, emergency management, project management, or data analysis.
- Training in student data governance, accessible transportation, community engagement, traffic operations, crash and near-miss analysis, and vendor or system management.
Required / Desired Experience
Required Experience
- Three or more years of progressively responsible experience in K-12 education, student information, data, technology, compliance, research, records, or a closely related function.
- Experience with safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination.
- Experience interpreting requirements, procedures, definitions, reports, system information, or technical documentation relevant to assigned work.
- Experience coordinating or completing deadline-driven work with careful documentation and quality control.
- Experience handling confidential information and communicating with users or stakeholders.
Desired Experience
- Experience with transportation routing, geographic information, student information, address validation and geocoding, ridership and eligibility, vehicle location and telematics, stop-arm and onboard video within authorized use, dispatch, driver and vehicle records, work orders, incident reporting, weather and road information, and family communication systems.
- Experience partnering with students, families, drivers, dispatchers, transportation leaders, school administrators, campus safety, special education, homeless and foster youth liaisons, facilities, technology, data stewards, local government, traffic engineering, public works, law enforcement, transit, bicycle and pedestrian partners, and transportation vendors.
- Experience in cross-functional planning, ownership, calendars, training, quality control, escalation, and continuous improvement.
- Experience using SQL, advanced spreadsheets, scripting, workflow tools, APIs, secure file transfer, or visualization tools when relevant to assigned duties.
- Experience developing accessible training, technical documentation, process maps, data dictionaries, or continuity materials.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Planning, Operations, and Service Delivery
- Maintain a documented process for evaluating routes, stops, walking paths, crossings, loading zones, arrival and dismissal, special events, construction, weather, and reported hazards.
- Coordinate accurate student address, eligibility, accessibility, stop, route, bell-time, school-calendar, vehicle, driver, roadway, restriction, and contact data across responsible systems.
- Review new and changed stops and routes using site observation, student age and needs, pedestrian paths, roadway characteristics, traffic controls, direction of travel, visibility, lighting, supervision, emergency access, and local requirements.
- Coordinate hazard reports, family requests, school concerns, near misses, crashes, illegal passing, vehicle or technology failures, corrective actions, communication, and verified closure.
- Develop training, maps, procedures, contingency routes, emergency contacts, reunification and evacuation support, and clear communication for drivers, schools, students, families, and partners.
Data Quality, Controls, and Documentation
- Use a Safe System approach that considers children, buses, other vehicles, roads, stops, waiting areas, walking and bicycling paths, loading, unloading, and human error together.
- Treat routing software as decision support; validate geocodes, walk paths, crossing rules, turn restrictions, roadway attributes, stop direction, grade-level rules, exceptions, and field conditions.
- Apply role-based access, minimum-necessary student information, secure family communication, appropriate video and telematics use, retention, auditability, and incident escalation.
- Maintain decision records showing the evidence, alternatives, safety tradeoffs, policy or legal criteria, consultation, approval, communication, implementation, and review date for consequential route or stop decisions.
- Analyze hazards, complaints, near misses, crashes, passing violations, late service, route changes, student access, accessibility, and recurring locations while accounting for reporting and exposure differences.
Safe Routes and Transportation Security Coordinator-Specific Leadership and Support
- Own or support the assigned portfolio for safe school travel, route and stop risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, transportation security, governed routing data, incident readiness, and community coordination, with responsibilities clearly matched to the position’s authority and classification.
- Develop role-specific calendars, service expectations, status reporting, support channels, and escalation paths.
- Coordinate decisions with responsible data owners, program leaders, technical custodians, reviewers, and approving officials.
- Provide accessible training, guidance, communications, and technical assistance tailored to user responsibilities.
- Analyze recurring errors, incidents, requests, and process delays and recommend sustainable improvements.
Security, Improvement, and Continuity
- Protect personally identifiable and confidential information in systems, files, reports, email, tickets, meetings, training, and support activity.
- Test consequential changes using representative cases, documented expectations, peer or owner review, and post-change validation.
- Use automation only with appropriate access, versioning, logging, exception handling, review, and recovery procedures.
- Maintain current standard operating procedures, cross-training, critical contacts, dependencies, backup coverage, and recovery steps.
- Perform other related duties consistent with the position’s purpose and classification.
Required Skills and Abilities
Knowledge of
- Safe school travel, bus stop and route risk assessment, arrival and dismissal, pedestrian and bicycle safety, transportation security, incident readiness, data quality, and community coordination.
- Transportation routing, geographic information, student information, address validation and geocoding, ridership and eligibility, vehicle location and telematics, stop-arm and onboard video within authorized use, dispatch, driver and vehicle records, work orders, incident reporting, weather and road information, and family communication systems.
- Data governance, source ownership, data quality, internal controls, change management, documentation, and continuous improvement.
- Student privacy, confidentiality, role-based access, secure transmission, records management, incident escalation, and responsible use.
- Project coordination, customer service, adult learning, accessible communication, and support practices appropriate to assigned work.
Ability to
- Interpret detailed requirements and translate them into accurate procedures, system actions, reports, guidance, or decisions.
- Trace discrepancies through source records, processes, configurations, mappings, transformations, and outputs.
- Manage competing priorities and fixed deadlines with transparent status, documentation, review, and escalation.
- Communicate clearly with technical, program, school, leadership, family, vendor, or agency audiences as appropriate.
- Exercise discretion, preserve confidentiality, recognize limits of authority, and escalate material risk promptly.
- Learn evolving requirements and technologies and improve processes without weakening controls or continuity.
Work Environment
- Work is performed in offices, schools, transportation facilities, vehicles, bus stops, roadways, sidewalks, crossings, loading zones, meetings, and outdoor field settings.
- The position requires substantial computer use for routing, GIS, student and transportation records, telematics, reports, documentation, communication, and analysis.
- Field review may occur near moving vehicles and in variable weather, traffic, lighting, road, construction, and terrain conditions using approved safety procedures.
- Workload may increase during route planning, school opening, bell-time changes, construction, severe weather, emergencies, incidents, and major service changes.
- The position requires frequent interaction with students, families, drivers, schools, transportation staff, public agencies, vendors, and community partners.
- The employee must protect student address, ridership, disability, route, video, vehicle-location, family-contact, and incident information.
- Work may include early mornings, afternoons, evenings, emergency call-in, and travel throughout the district and surrounding community.
Other Requirements
- Successfully complete required criminal-record, fingerprint, and employment clearances.
- Complete a tuberculosis risk assessment and any examination required by applicable law or district policy.
- Complete annual mandated-reporter training and fulfill all legally applicable reporting responsibilities.
- Complete district-required cybersecurity, student-privacy, safety, nondiscrimination, records, and workplace training.
- Maintain professional confidentiality and comply with district policies governing records, information security, acceptable technology use, and data access.
- Travel between district offices, schools, service locations, meetings, and professional-development activities as assigned.
- Possess a valid California driver’s license and maintain insurability when driving is an essential function of the position.
- Occasionally work early-morning, evening, weekend, or extended hours during critical operational, reporting, testing, implementation, or incident periods.
- Regularly sit, stand, walk, speak, hear, read, and operate computers and standard office equipment.
- Use hands and fingers for keyboarding and handling documents; maintain visual attention while reviewing detailed records and computer displays.
- Occasionally lift, carry, or move records, devices, equipment, or supplies weighing up to 25 pounds.
- Perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.