Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
First off, sorry, this is a long one...
I've got an issue that I really need to get feedback on to see if I am off base or not. Issue is busing my kids to elementary school. My kids are (son) 7, and daughter (5). He is in 2nd grade and she is in Kindergarten. We were lucky and she won a spot in the drawing for her to get in the only and first all day Kindergarten class at the school
so she goes at the same time in the morning and finishes up at the same time too. The district policy is 0. 6 miles and further than that the children are supposed to be bused. We are 0. 65 miles away. One of our neighbors (whose kids are also not currently bused but should be) a few doors down called and asked if they could measure and verify if they & we are or are not supposed to be bused. The bus Co. did that last week and called us on Friday and indicated that our kids would be picked up today am in our cul-de-sac and taken to school. I figured this was good news as it is a fairly long walk for a 5 & 7 year old, especially in the coming winter. I might also add now that how they measure to determine busing/non-busing does not account for the fact that thay have to walk an extra black PAST the school along a busy 4 lane road just so they can cross at a controlled 4-way stop intersection. This adds a fair amount of distance and along a quite busy road. So, they are going to be bused. But, the problem is that the bus they sent out this am was the short bus with the special needs children. They have to have only one special needs child per seat by regulation, but there was only one seat left that my two kids could share (and no seats for the other 3 children that were supposed to also be added to the bus route). The driver attends to them before they leave to make sure they are strapped down and ready to go. Good safety is certainly welcome but maybe(?) not necessary in this case. It is possible that the bus driver did not understand our kids are not special needs children. Now, I know how this sounds and I totally understand what some may be thinking at this point. I have nothing against special needs children. I am glad and grateful that our schooling system takes them up and schools them right alongside all the other children and gives them the extra attention they need to give them the opportunity to succeed in their life. But, I think children are children and there is a stigma of sorts attached to kids that ride the short bus and that have to wait to be unbuckled by the teachers assistant before they can get off the bus upon arrival at school. The other thing that bugs me is that we have always observed the short bus getting to school after the bell rings and school starts. They should not be late to school everyday because of the bus the bus company chooses to send out to us, should they? I might add that there is a large bus that turns a corner litterally two blocks away from our house and it is never full and is always the first bus to arrive at the school doors. How long would it take to go 4 or 5 additional blocks (round trip), make 1 more stop and pick up 5 additional children?
So, am I being a bigot or similar because I feel my kids should be able to be picked up the regular bus instead of the special needs short bus? I have to admit I am feeling bad about how I feel here but my kids are my kids. I just think they should be able to ride the regular bus since it drives so close anyways. Another thought is that the special needs bus is likely a lot more expensive per pickup for the district than the regular bus is. Maybe the bus company is trying to get extra $ accordingly because of our extra stop?
My Wife called me in tears this morning after the kids got on the bus and left. My son looked out the window at her when they were strapped down with a look on his face like "Mom, what are we doing here?". But they did get there safe and sound (albeit 10 minutes late). Another complication is that my Wife just got a job with the school district as a cook and she is thinking it maybe is not a good idea to create "waves", so to speak.
So, what should we do? 1) Ignore it and refuse the short bus (like I think the bus company or district wishes us to do) and let them walk, 2) keep driving them to school ourselves through the winter, or 3) should we ask for a regular bus at our pickup/stop?
Thanks for your thoughts.
-Deon
I've got an issue that I really need to get feedback on to see if I am off base or not. Issue is busing my kids to elementary school. My kids are (son) 7, and daughter (5). He is in 2nd grade and she is in Kindergarten. We were lucky and she won a spot in the drawing for her to get in the only and first all day Kindergarten class at the school
so she goes at the same time in the morning and finishes up at the same time too. The district policy is 0. 6 miles and further than that the children are supposed to be bused. We are 0. 65 miles away. One of our neighbors (whose kids are also not currently bused but should be) a few doors down called and asked if they could measure and verify if they & we are or are not supposed to be bused. The bus Co. did that last week and called us on Friday and indicated that our kids would be picked up today am in our cul-de-sac and taken to school. I figured this was good news as it is a fairly long walk for a 5 & 7 year old, especially in the coming winter. I might also add now that how they measure to determine busing/non-busing does not account for the fact that thay have to walk an extra black PAST the school along a busy 4 lane road just so they can cross at a controlled 4-way stop intersection. This adds a fair amount of distance and along a quite busy road. So, they are going to be bused. But, the problem is that the bus they sent out this am was the short bus with the special needs children. They have to have only one special needs child per seat by regulation, but there was only one seat left that my two kids could share (and no seats for the other 3 children that were supposed to also be added to the bus route). The driver attends to them before they leave to make sure they are strapped down and ready to go. Good safety is certainly welcome but maybe(?) not necessary in this case. It is possible that the bus driver did not understand our kids are not special needs children. Now, I know how this sounds and I totally understand what some may be thinking at this point. I have nothing against special needs children. I am glad and grateful that our schooling system takes them up and schools them right alongside all the other children and gives them the extra attention they need to give them the opportunity to succeed in their life. But, I think children are children and there is a stigma of sorts attached to kids that ride the short bus and that have to wait to be unbuckled by the teachers assistant before they can get off the bus upon arrival at school. The other thing that bugs me is that we have always observed the short bus getting to school after the bell rings and school starts. They should not be late to school everyday because of the bus the bus company chooses to send out to us, should they? I might add that there is a large bus that turns a corner litterally two blocks away from our house and it is never full and is always the first bus to arrive at the school doors. How long would it take to go 4 or 5 additional blocks (round trip), make 1 more stop and pick up 5 additional children?So, am I being a bigot or similar because I feel my kids should be able to be picked up the regular bus instead of the special needs short bus? I have to admit I am feeling bad about how I feel here but my kids are my kids. I just think they should be able to ride the regular bus since it drives so close anyways. Another thought is that the special needs bus is likely a lot more expensive per pickup for the district than the regular bus is. Maybe the bus company is trying to get extra $ accordingly because of our extra stop?
My Wife called me in tears this morning after the kids got on the bus and left. My son looked out the window at her when they were strapped down with a look on his face like "Mom, what are we doing here?". But they did get there safe and sound (albeit 10 minutes late). Another complication is that my Wife just got a job with the school district as a cook and she is thinking it maybe is not a good idea to create "waves", so to speak.
So, what should we do? 1) Ignore it and refuse the short bus (like I think the bus company or district wishes us to do) and let them walk, 2) keep driving them to school ourselves through the winter, or 3) should we ask for a regular bus at our pickup/stop?
Thanks for your thoughts.
-Deon
