Bus on Murch field trip crashes, kids hurt, bus driver charged with DUI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the great wisdom now in our walking field trip to a local church “pumpkin patch” in town!

the Cox Farm fieldtrip is really miserable. As is the apple picking field trip.

People get stuck on these as “traditions” instead of realizing that kids would have just as much fun taking the Metro bus to the zoo.

Ha! My 9th grader at Jackson-Reed did just that today. She's sending me pics and having a blast.

Honestly I don't know which one I would be more nervous about. Lot of violence on Metro lately. Someone's kid could easily get attacked by random teen hoodlums or a mentally ill person

Kids take the metro every day, twice a day.

Kids also take school buses everyday…not sure what your point is? 44 kindergartners with 4 adults is not the same as some teens or younger kids with their parents

DCPS kids don’t take school buses. They take Metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, DCPS cancelled all field trips? Even walking/metro?

No one posted a source or a link. I work at a DCPS and I haven't heard about this.

Our DCPS has kids on a field trip literally today...

Yeah - need a link - we have a field trip to Cox Farms next week!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the great wisdom now in our walking field trip to a local church “pumpkin patch” in town!

the Cox Farm fieldtrip is really miserable. As is the apple picking field trip.

People get stuck on these as “traditions” instead of realizing that kids would have just as much fun taking the Metro bus to the zoo.

Ha! My 9th grader at Jackson-Reed did just that today. She's sending me pics and having a blast.

Honestly I don't know which one I would be more nervous about. Lot of violence on Metro lately. Someone's kid could easily get attacked by random teen hoodlums or a mentally ill person

Kids take the metro every day, twice a day.

Kids also take school buses everyday…not sure what your point is? 44 kindergartners with 4 adults is not the same as some teens or younger kids with their parents

DCPS kids don’t take school buses. They take Metro.

YOUR kids don’t take school buses. You know that DCPS and OSSE have to legally provide school bus service to some students, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, DCPS cancelled all field trips? Even walking/metro?

No one posted a source or a link. I work at a DCPS and I haven't heard about this.

Our DCPS has kids on a field trip literally today...

Yeah - need a link - we have a field trip to Cox Farms next week!

I do know SWS cancelled theirs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, DCPS cancelled all field trips? Even walking/metro?

No one posted a source or a link. I work at a DCPS and I haven't heard about this.

Our DCPS has kids on a field trip literally today...

Yeah - need a link - we have a field trip to Cox Farms next week!

I read an article that said it was suspending use of this particular contractor. The person who originally posted about all trips being cancelled probably misread.

[Anonymous]

From the People article:
Reynolds' license was allegedly found to be revoked in Virginia from a prior DWI and suspended in Maryland, in addition to being allegedly found with a fraudulent medical card.

What the??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DWI? How could an adult do that? I get addiction and desperation. But how does one fail to step up to responsibly for a busload of children? Take a desk job for God sake. Unconscionable

Vast majority of addicts aren’t exactly reasonable, practical people when in the throes of addiction. It’s horrible to think what could have happened to those kids.

If you think you can do a better job, please do

Hiring school bus driver is incredibly difficult. I am surprised they even had drivers willing to drive.

Imagine this being your takeaway upon learning a man with a revoked license and blood alcohol level of .20 crashed a bus full of kindergartners. What a defeatist, depressing perspective. I do think we, as a society, can do better than this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From WTOP "School staff convinced Reynolds to follow another bus coming back from the field trip and pull over on Commercial Drive, in Chantilly, and they called 911, the police said."

So school staff didn't immediately demand that he get from being the wheel after hitting the rock/ running off the road?!
He was allowed to drive behind the bus?!

I'm not sure what the alternative was? They didn't know he was drunk...they just knew that his driving wasn't feeling safe. So they asked him to pull over at the nearest safe location. They acted quickly, decisively, and appropriately. There can be zero qualms with the actions of the teachers on that bus.

[Anonymous]

It’s frankly disturbing his fellow bus driving colleague didn’t notice he was drunk. Usually bus drivers park near each other at these venues and generally know the fellow driver from the same company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From WTOP "School staff convinced Reynolds to follow another bus coming back from the field trip and pull over on Commercial Drive, in Chantilly, and they called 911, the police said."

So school staff didn't immediately demand that he get from being the wheel after hitting the rock/ running off the road?!
He was allowed to drive behind the bus?!

I'm not sure what the alternative was? They didn't know he was drunk...they just knew that his driving wasn't feeling safe. So they asked him to pull over at the nearest safe location. They acted quickly, decisively, and appropriately. There can be zero qualms with the actions of the teachers on that bus.

They convinced him. Does the PP think someone who is drunk driving has sound reasoning skills? I doubt the teachers said pull over and he was like yes of course let me pull over and get arrested. He probably said he’s fine everything is fine and the teachers eventually said something that convinced him to pull over.

[Anonymous]

News 4 report tonight showed a scathing review of Rome Charters and interviewed a former manager there. Looks like they have had a history of hiring sketchy drivers and were reported to DDOT with no action in 6 years: the plot thickens.

Looks like KIPP has dropped them as a vendor as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:News 4 report tonight showed a scathing review of Rome Charters and interviewed a former manager there. Looks like they have had a history of hiring sketchy drivers and were reported to DDOT with no action in 6 years: the plot thickens.

Looks like KIPP has dropped them as a vendor as well.

Sounds like the owner has some government connections…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the great wisdom now in our walking field trip to a local church “pumpkin patch” in town!

the Cox Farm fieldtrip is really miserable. As is the apple picking field trip.

People get stuck on these as “traditions” instead of realizing that kids would have just as much fun taking the Metro bus to the zoo.

Ha! My 9th grader at Jackson-Reed did just that today. She's sending me pics and having a blast.

Honestly I don't know which one I would be more nervous about. Lot of violence on Metro lately. Someone's kid could easily get attacked by random teen hoodlums or a mentally ill person

Kids take the metro every day, twice a day.

Kids also take school buses everyday…not sure what your point is? 44 kindergartners with 4 adults is not the same as some teens or younger kids with their parents

DCPS kids don’t take school buses. They take Metro.

Phew - surely Metro is safer! /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The driver had a PRIOR dwi, in the last 5-10 years! He shouldn’t have been allowed to drive a bus in the first place. And both the busses were unsafe and shouldn’t have been on the road. Someone really messed up here

https://wjla.com/amp/news/local/dcps-dc-bus-dwi-driver-charged-accident-murch-elementary-kids-field-trip-cox-farms-dmv-washington-district-school-classroom-education-troy-reynolds-bowser-dui-crime-virginia-nova-chantilly-bac-fairfax-county-police

That's nuts, he had a revoked license!

Also is 4 adults to 44 students enough? I guess if it's upper elem, but I thought the farm field trips were for PK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The driver had a PRIOR dwi, in the last 5-10 years! He shouldn’t have been allowed to drive a bus in the first place. And both the busses were unsafe and shouldn’t have been on the road. Someone really messed up here

https://wjla.com/amp/news/local/dcps-dc-bus-dwi-driver-charged-accident-murch-elementary-kids-field-trip-cox-farms-dmv-washington-district-school-classroom-education-troy-reynolds-bowser-dui-crime-virginia-nova-chantilly-bac-fairfax-county-police

That's nuts, he had a revoked license!

Also is 4 adults to 44 students enough? I guess if it's upper elem, but I thought the farm field trips were for PK.

There were parent chaperones on the field trip too. They had to take their own cars and not be on the bus.