I feel so bad for dismissing my daughter.

[Anonymous]

My 2nd grader takes the bus to school and we've had a fantastic bus driver for 3 years. She was pulled from the route without notification a week and a half ago so we had all thought she was on vacation or sick. My daughter came home from school a few days ago crying saying the bus driver yelled at her. My daughter is definitely rambunctious and also uses the word "yell" to mean stern talking to as I'm not a yeller at all so if I use a "mom voice" she calls that getting yelled at. So I reminded her that the regular driver should be back soon and suggested that she bring her journal or a book on the bus to occupy herself.

Well, I just had a random lady knock on my door and tell me that her kids also ride the bus and they came home and told their mom that the bus driver "hates" my daughter and screams at her. So the two of us pieced together a group chat of neighborhood parents and 8/10 families who ride the bus have had kids come home scared/crying or cry in the morning that they can't get on the bus with him.

I called the bus company and was very calm and the lady yelled at me and hung up! So then I called the transportation liason at our school district and she said they contract out the bus and don't manage it or anything. I said even if the kids are unsafe there is nothing you all will do? And she said she can email the person who yelled at me a recap of what I said, but that's it.

So then I called the corporation that owns the bus company monopoly in my state and the lady who answered was very very nice and reassuring and took a bunch of notes and said their VP will call me back. The other parents are also on the complaint trail today.

I just feel horrible that I dismissed my daughter. I'm worried that this crazy guy knows where we live (my house is the bus stop). What else can I do?

[Anonymous]

Wait for the VP to call you. Then if you don't get resolution, you can take it to the news. They love these types of stories, and they get results because the bus companies and school district hate bad press.

Which district?

[Anonymous]

Do not worry! It happens. Last year we had a bus driver who cursed out a child. He was removed from the route after parent complaint. The kids would say he yelled, which given a loud bus seemed reasonable. But then one day the neighbor daughter came home and said he cursed out another child. Neighbor complained immediately to the school. Before I could even find out what happened he was dismissed and we had a new driver.

This is not uncommon. This will be fine OP. It happens!

[Anonymous]

Your kid is an angel right??

[Anonymous]

I mean, I’m a Karen and all, but here’s what id do:

1. Give the kids cameras to record the driver so there’s solid evidence
2. Once I have that, coordinate with the other parents so every day a parent gets on the bus with kids. If the driver asked me what I was doing getting on, I’d just give a big smile and pull out the video.
3. Repeat until the bus company does something about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, I’m a Karen and all, but here’s what id do:

1. Give the kids cameras to record the driver so there’s solid evidence
2. Once I have that, coordinate with the other parents so every day a parent gets on the bus with kids. If the driver asked me what I was doing getting on, I’d just give a big smile and pull out the video.
3. Repeat until the bus company does something about it.

Parents cannot get on a bus in MoCo. This was an issue at my kid's stop a number of years ago and the cops were called. It holds up the entire bus route.

[Anonymous]

Are there cameras on your busses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid is an angel right??

Are you able to f-ing read

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there cameras on your busses?

Oh good question. Im not sure but will inquire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2nd grader takes the bus to school and we've had a fantastic bus driver for 3 years. She was pulled from the route without notification a week and a half ago so we had all thought she was on vacation or sick. My daughter came home from school a few days ago crying saying the bus driver yelled at her. My daughter is definitely rambunctious and also uses the word "yell" to mean stern talking to as I'm not a yeller at all so if I use a "mom voice" she calls that getting yelled at. So I reminded her that the regular driver should be back soon and suggested that she bring her journal or a book on the bus to occupy herself.

Well, I just had a random lady knock on my door and tell me that her kids also ride the bus and they came home and told their mom that the bus driver "hates" my daughter and screams at her. So the two of us pieced together a group chat of neighborhood parents and 8/10 families who ride the bus have had kids come home scared/crying or cry in the morning that they can't get on the bus with him.

I called the bus company and was very calm and the lady yelled at me and hung up! So then I called the transportation liason at our school district and she said they contract out the bus and don't manage it or anything. I said even if the kids are unsafe there is nothing you all will do? And she said she can email the person who yelled at me a recap of what I said, but that's it.

So then I called the corporation that owns the bus company monopoly in my state and the lady who answered was very very nice and reassuring and took a bunch of notes and said their VP will call me back. The other parents are also on the complaint trail today.

I just feel horrible that I dismissed my daughter. I'm worried that this crazy guy knows where we live (my house is the bus stop). What else can I do?

I think you should get your daughter to apologize to the bus driver for yelling and screaming or throwing things or whatever she did to make the bus driver hate her. And then promise to behave more appropriately in the future. See if that helps.

[Anonymous]

Remember that the bus driver needs to safely drive a heavy dangerous vehicle and cannot have kids behaving like animals behind him. It’s not safe for anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait for the VP to call you. Then if you don't get resolution, you can take it to the news. They love these types of stories, and they get results because the bus companies and school district hate bad press.

Which district?

You don't understand the news very well. No news organization cares about some woman complaining that a bus driver "yelled" at her precious little snowflake.

[Anonymous]

Maybe you could tell the school that your bus needs a teacher or other supervisor since the kids are wild and the bus driver is at the point of screaming at the kids to try to keep the situation safe.

[Anonymous]

Is this a public bus and not a school bus? Why would you report to the contacting company and not to someone at the school district? Perhaps start with the school principal?

[Anonymous]

^contracting