Shacoya

Hello, I am a very active mother of two - Daughter 12 and Son 11.
We have a large busing district, the largest in the state. That may matter, I don't know yet.
At this point I want to explain the circumstances surrounding this situation:

Everyone who lives up the hill we do has to use chains in the winter to get from the pavement to our homes. We park other transportation at the bottom of the hill for trips to town etc. and leave one vehicle chained for the trips up and down in the snow.
Also, there is no cell service in the area. We can't make any calls without driving all the way up to our homes.
Today, I drove to my children's bus stop (approximately 3/4ths of a mile from our home) and waited for the bus to arrive. I am always early, because the bus is not always there at the same time. There have been issues with some of my neighbors not being there for their children, and I have assured my children "I" will always be there or make sure another family member is!
So, two of my neighbors and I waited in our cars. When the bus was 15 minutes late we started to worry. There are at least two stretches of the route where a car can slide over the edge of a drop off. At 30 minutes overdue, another neighbor drove by on his way to work. He had called the school and was told our bus would be 20 minutes or so late. No explanation was given.
I kept wondering if I should go switch to the "go to town" car, and drive towards town looking for the bus... which I have done in the past. The other parents and I decided to wait for 15 more minutes and then one of us would go.
The bus finally arrived with all of our children at 45 minutes past normal time, dropped off the kids and sped up the road.

Now, I asked my daughter, what the delay had been and she explained that a child named Sam, 3 stops before us had not had a parent waiting. The bus driver waited for about 15 minutes, calling on her cell, and finally - leaving a nasty message on the parents answering machine. She then turned around and took Sam back to the school. After the delivery of him to his school, she returned to the route.
I called the bus garage. Asked to speak to the administrator. He was not in so I asked "Jim" what the policy is when a child or children's parents are not there to pick up their children, with no prior arrangement made with neighbors etc. He told me that if the bus was closer to the school than the midway point of the route, the policy was to return that child to the school and then resume the route. Basically it was the drivers call. I asked for him to have the Admin call me as soon as possible.
This particular route is over an hour long. By returning that one child to the school immediately instead of finishing the route, and at the END returning the child to the school, the remaining 15 or 20 separate parents had to sit and worry about all of OUR kids for 45 minutes or longer! Several drove past and tracked the bus down to collect their children as I have done in the past. This very thing happened in October, and several times previously over the years. In October, I called and spoke with someone at the bus garage, and asked the "policy" question and was told the driver "was supposed to finish the route before returning children they could not drop off." I was assured the driver would be talked to and this wouldn't happen again.
Upon speaking with the Admin, who called me this evening, I found indeed it's the drivers call, and it was thought best to return the child so "the parents who weren't there to pick up their child wouldn't worry about the safety of their child"!
So, I asked why is the one family who was NOT there to get their child given preference to 20 or more other families? WE worried! WE were on time! And yet, we are made to wait, be late for work, worry our kids are in danger, etc.? Hmm, he said he couldn't discuss this further without first speaking with the driver to find out the particulars. At the end of our discussion he said he knew the driver, would not be happy to have to finish the route, and then return a child; because then she would have to drive all the way back home...to the end of the route. So, for the convenience of the DRIVER?
I have spoken with other parents times previously, and we cannot see why this could possibly be Bus Policy. Do you think the worry of one parent (who should know their child is still ON the bus, or back at School) should be of more value than 20 other families? The driver is doing a job. If it is inconventient for her too bad.
Without any emergency, do you think either of those reasons should be enough? I am ready to contact other parents and take this to the school board and demand this policy be changed! Am I being unreasonable? Have any other parents here experienced something like this?
Thank you. To me this is VERY WRONG and I can't believe this policy could exsist.

~ Shacoya

jenilouise

I think that particular policy is absurd. When my oldest daughter was still in school she rode the bus once. The Kindergarteners had a card they wore around their necks with their stops on it and they had given Isabella the wrong card. When they reached the stop she should have been assigned and attempted to get off the bus the driver told her to sit down. My husband said, "That is my daughter and this is her stop." The bus driver acted all pissed off and debated whether she should let my child off the bus while my daughter is crying for her dad and she calls the school who say "ooops". They pander to neglectful parents and cause worry to those who are doing their jobs.

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Kaytee

thats scary! If the conditions of the roads are that bad for you, there is no reason in the world to go back to the school. Take the kid on the rest of the stops then return to the school!!!! Ridiculous!
Jen- thats crappy that that happened to your daughter, but I can kinda see why the driver was hesitant to let your daughter off the bus. The whol "other" parent trying to take the child that they do not have custody over kinda thing. Thank Goodness they worked it out with out having to go back to the school

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Shacoya

Thank you both. I am eagerly awaiting my second call back from the Bus Garage Admin., which he promised to make as soon as he had spoken with the Driver.
I (and the other parents I've managed to contact so far) am fairly sure it's going to take a visit and discussion with the District School Board to get this particular policy changed. I'll keep you posted.

Anyone know what the policy on this very situation is in YOUR district? I am hoping to offer some comparison when we go. If I have to I will call the nearby Districts and ask the question of their Bus Garage. If they will tell me.

thanks!

Shacoya

I just noticed that his Topic was moved to Middle Childhood \ Preadolescence.

This is a General parenting post regarding Bus Policies. If I had not mentioned the age of my children it wouldn't be here. Their ages are irrelevant to the thread.

Ah well, Hopefully I shall get some General replies and opinions!

jenilouise

I just cannot believe they made such a huge mistake. At the time they let kids off the bus without checking if parents were there. If the stop she was assigned to was before the stop where my husband was she would have been kicked off the bus who knows where. That's the scary part.

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Shacoya

Very scary Jen! Imagine what must happen to some children who don't have parents to even be there to pick them up. Being kicked off in a wrong neighborhood. It's that kind of thing that makes it important for us to not depend on the school to keep our children safe.
One of my neighbors is a Grandmother (45) raising her Granddaughter (12). The Grandmother drinks. As soon as they moved here, and before we knew much about her she wanted to carpool and take turns. I said I would help pick up her GD but made excuses why I wouldn't need her to ever pick up my kids. Thank goodness. As it turns out, I have had to stop giving her GD a ride home, after one instance when she didn't show up ( I had seen her car 30 minutes before bus time at the local tavern). She called the school and complained that they let her GD off on the bus and she didn't know where she was! Later I was called and she asked if I happened to know where her GD was. So sad. I realized when I got the call from the school that I was leaving myself open to possible fictitious charges.
Previously when I would pick up her GD she wanted me to take her GD home, and leave her there alone, instead of keeping her at my house until she (the Grandma) got home. I refused. They have no telephone, we have wild predators, and the house is in the middle of a forest with closest neighbor a half mile away! I could not in good conscience leave a child there alone.

musicmom

I would have sided with you. My sister is the Secretary to the Director of Transportation here for our schools. Their policy is to wait five minutes for the parent (they do not have to call cell phones) if the parent is not there then they finish their route and then drive the child back to the school.
A bus driver is NEVER allowed to go to their house with the bus. They have to drive to the compound leave their car and take their bus. They can not take it for lunch either. They are NOT allowed to be parked in a field or even have the bus parked near their house or they are fired.
You definitly need to call the Director of transportation for your district.
If I had to wait that long for my child there would be total hell to pay!

jenilouise

I can't even imagine. Mine homeschool now so it is not an issue.

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Shacoya

Thank you Musicmom, I am calling him again tomorrow as he did not get back to me today. I have already contacted more parents and they totally support taking this issue to the School Board if we have to. The next meeting is on the 14th.
edit addition: I would have thought the bus should only be used strictly for school purposes also. It seems here, because of the long distance for most routes, that the fortunate few drivers who live on their route DO get to keep the bus overnight. I could live with that. But I totally see that as inconsequential. So most of the time the driver has that extra benefit. That does NOT mean it can dictate whether or not she decides to make the majority of the students and parents second to her preference!
P.S. Thank you so much for letting me know what the policy is in your district! Makes me feel like I have more "ammo" for the upcoming meeting!

Wow Jen, I imagine it's a relief to not be entrusting your children to a formal School, but also you must have traded that for the different frustrations of being their sole teacher. We also home schooled our kids in the early years, and I currently supplement the public school with Home schooling in some areas.
Do you use a set curriculum and if so may I ask which and does it work for your family so far?

(((HUG)))
~ Shacoya