Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him

[Anonymous]

Our caregiver forgot to meet my DS at the bus stop. He was left alone at the bus stop and walked home alone about half a block. Should I complain?

[Anonymous]

At our back to school night they said they weren't responsible for who was at the bus stop. Not sure how your school handles it, but you might call them and mention it.

[Anonymous]

You should send an e-mail to the bus depot to tell them, but it should not be a complaining e-mail. It should be something like, "My child X is on Bus Y at Z ES. This afternoon, my caregiver forgot to meet him at the bus stop at A St and B Rd, but the bus driver let him off the bus anyway. Is it MCPS bus policy not to allow kindergarteners off the bus unless there is an adult to meet them? If so, could you please remind the bus driver? If not, could you please tell me what the policy is?"

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would complain to my caregiver about her irresponsibility.

[Anonymous]

Op here they are supposed to take them back to the school

[Anonymous]

Op here I mean should I talk to the bus driver?

[Anonymous]

How does a caregiver "forget" this? My kids are teens, I never forgot to pick them up.

[Anonymous]

Yeesh. Sorry, OP. Sounds like you've got two problems (caregiver + bus service) In my district they have special labels for the K kids, and they have to be met by someone, or they have to drive them back to the school and call.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our caregiver forgot to meet my DS at the bus stop. He was left alone at the bus stop and walked home alone about half a block. Should I complain?

To your caregiver, yes. Half a block isn't a big deal. But I'm surprised they let the kid off the bus if there was no one there.

If there were other parents or babysitters, it might not have been evident to the bus driver that your kid was alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here they are supposed to take them back to the school

then absolutely call the school if that is their policy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here they are supposed to take them back to the school

I don't think you have this right. The bus driver drops them off and pulls away. He/she doesn't wait to ensure the crowd of parents gathers each kid.

Didn't one of the other parents at the bus stop notice?

[Anonymous]

All the other kids are older no one meets them he is the only kindergartner and the policy is that if no one is there to meet then they stay in the bus

[Anonymous]

I have. k student and an much older MCpS student, and I can assure you that they let kids off Thebes unaccompanied all the time. I asked specifically at orientation last spring (our school had a rep from the bus depot there) and I was told that it is policy that the kids CAN be left solo.

Even worse the guy said that the reason for the policy was 'the latchkey kids who live in apartment buildings.' There aren't a lot of apartment buildings zoned for our school, so my impression was that the bus depot guy was trying to blame the policy on low income parents. Obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

I thought that MCPS policy was that kindergartners are not let off the bus without an adult. At least that was the case with my fifth-grader was in K. I would definitely talk to the bus depot. And, I have a kindergartner in MCPS right now, and the afternoon bus driver gave me a form to sign that specifically addressed whether he could leave my kid with no one there or not.

[Anonymous]

Pp is right. Mcps doesn't allow k to be left off bus without adult. This happened to us once last year when I was late. The bus driver took him on rest of stops and then looped back around. I was so grateful.