Bus timing issues

[Anonymous]

My kid takes a bus for the first time (secondary level) and the morning pick up time has been so inconsistent. We live 9 minutes from the school, but the bus route is scheduled to pick my kid up 40 minutes before first period. With the bus coming earlier and earlier than what’s posted in the official route, my kid is having to catch the bus almost an hour before first period! This seems excessive.

Now that MCPS no longer has a bus tracker, how can we ensure our kid isn’t missing the bus or arriving at the stop too early. We are not able to drive the child to school if they miss the bus and they are too young g to drive. No wonder MCPS ha attendance issues.

[Anonymous]

Call the depot and report. Then call every day thereafter that the route is inconsistent until it is not inconsistent any more. You might have a new driver who is worried about making it to school on time with the traffic, and they might need to be reminded that they can't depart early or try to "train" their passenger set to arrive sooner, especially since there could be different kids on the bus every day.

[Anonymous]

We are having a nearly identical situation.

[Anonymous]

Call the school and tell them. They won’t know otherwise, and can help troubleshoot.

[Anonymous]

You only have one real issue, and that is the bus arriving inconsistently. The fact that the schedule dictates the bus picks up earlier than you would prefer is not a real problem, as that's just the breaks with a driver shortage and need to turn busses around for other school levels.

It' gorgeous out. Maybe your child can bike?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You only have one real issue, and that is the bus arriving inconsistently. The fact that the schedule dictates the bus picks up earlier than you would prefer is not a real problem, as that's just the breaks with a driver shortage and need to turn busses around for other school levels.

It' gorgeous out. Maybe your child can bike?

One real issue is enough. It isn’t going to be gorgeous out all year long, some people don’t have safe bike routes (ours is along a 6 lane major road) and some kids need to bring bulky musical instruments and sports equipment in addition to backpacks. You could be more empathetic rather than being dismissive of whether OP’s situation is a “real problem.”

[Anonymous]

Which area are you in? There are SO many construction and utility delays around county. Typically the same bus and same bus driver are making runs for the tiers (high school, middle and in some cases elementary) in your area and many work another job to which they need to get to after driving your kid to school.

[Anonymous]

If the bus is leaving the stop before the scheduled pick up time the. You should document and co tact the bus depot and the school. But if you’re not there getting him to the stop, you might want to be tracking him to be sure he’s been on time. Buses don’t have to wait for late kids. I’d be screen shooting your tracker app showing him at the stop before the designated pick up time.

[Anonymous]

It is free and subject to traffic. Give it a few weeks to settle.

[Anonymous]

Go out early and put a tracker on them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go out early and put a tracker on them.

I considered telling my kids to put an AirTag in the bus seat, but that seems illegal.

[Anonymous]

If it’s a big hardship, then the most you can do is complain to the depot the driver departs before the scheduled time.

I tend towards not complaining about this matter if the driver is reliable. We had one who left 10 minutes before posted time. It was a bit of a pain, but we liked them so we worked with their preference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go out early and put a tracker on them.

I considered telling my kids to put an AirTag in the bus seat, but that seems illegal.

Ya think?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the bus is leaving the stop before the scheduled pick up time the. You should document and co tact the bus depot and the school. But if you’re not there getting him to the stop, you might want to be tracking him to be sure he’s been on time. Buses don’t have to wait for late kids. I’d be screen shooting your tracker app showing him at the stop before the designated pick up time.

What tracking app? Something I use to track my child or something that tracks the bus?

[Anonymous]

I told my child to let the driver know they missed the bus this morning to clarify whether the bus came super early or super late. The driver has been really nice so I wondered if it was a substitute.

Are drivers supposed to wait for their scheduled pick up time? The bus route says our stop is a 7:05 pick up. How often do I need to report when it picks up befofe 7?