Dcps has no school bus?

[Anonymous]

For those that don’t know already ALL WMATA buses are free in DC regardless of metro rides free.

Yes to echo others, nearly all zoned elementary schools are within 1 mile walking distance. The issues is that there is so many school choice options where it makes it moot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those that don’t know already ALL WMATA buses are free in DC regardless of metro rides free.

Yes to echo others, nearly all zoned elementary schools are within 1 mile walking distance. The issues is that there is so many school choice options where it makes it moot.

Not yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's correct. There are school buses but only for children who qualify. DCPS children can use the metro train or bus for free. Many kids go to their neighborhood school and there are many that do not. Some of the charter schools have buses for children that come from other parts of the city.

NP - which charters have busses? We’re a Ward 1 family with no car, so commute is a real limiting factor for us. I’d appreciate any info here. I’d love it if my kid could take a bus to some farther away charter schools.

there are so many good schools in ward 1! why would you send your kid to a charter. though if it's for upper grades, i can see that.

PP here. We’re happy at our IB school for now, but we’re zoned for CHEC for middle school which is an unappealing option. So we’ll need a middle school path, probably long before our three kids can take a city bus alone. $2100 a year is a heck of a lot less than owning a car!! So if there are other schools that have this, please speak up.

I only know of a bus that goes from Capitol Hill to Latin. Most parents just drive their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those that don’t know already ALL WMATA buses are free in DC regardless of metro rides free.

Yes to echo others, nearly all zoned elementary schools are within 1 mile walking distance. The issues is that there is so many school choice options where it makes it moot.

Not yet.

They will by school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those that don’t know already ALL WMATA buses are free in DC regardless of metro rides free.

Yes to echo others, nearly all zoned elementary schools are within 1 mile walking distance. The issues is that there is so many school choice options where it makes it moot.

Not yet.

They will by school year.

No, we likely don’t have the revenues to be able to pay for it.

https://dcist.com/story/23/03/01/fare-free-buses-in-jeopardy-as-d-c-revenue-projections-drop/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those that don’t know already ALL WMATA buses are free in DC regardless of metro rides free.

Yes to echo others, nearly all zoned elementary schools are within 1 mile walking distance. The issues is that there is so many school choice options where it makes it moot.

Not yet.

They will by school year.

No, we likely don’t have the revenues to be able to pay for it.

https://dcist.com/story/23/03/01/fare-free-buses-in-jeopardy-as-d-c-revenue-projections-drop/

Who knew that quality of life concerns and never-ending spending on social programs might hurt a tax base. This is a SHOCKING development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those that don’t know already ALL WMATA buses are free in DC regardless of metro rides free.

Yes to echo others, nearly all zoned elementary schools are within 1 mile walking distance. The issues is that there is so many school choice options where it makes it moot.

Not yet.

They will by school year.

No, we likely don’t have the revenues to be able to pay for it.

https://dcist.com/story/23/03/01/fare-free-buses-in-jeopardy-as-d-c-revenue-projections-drop/

Who knew that quality of life concerns and never-ending spending on social programs might hurt a tax base. This is a SHOCKING development.

seems like the bigger issue is that people are teleworking, so employers are downsizing the office space they need, and thus the value of commercial buildings has decreased. not that crime and homelessness aren't issues worth considering too. but I'm not sure what the zero-cost solutions to those would be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those that don’t know already ALL WMATA buses are free in DC regardless of metro rides free.

Yes to echo others, nearly all zoned elementary schools are within 1 mile walking distance. The issues is that there is so many school choice options where it makes it moot.

Not yet.

They will by school year.

No, we likely don’t have the revenues to be able to pay for it.

https://dcist.com/story/23/03/01/fare-free-buses-in-jeopardy-as-d-c-revenue-projections-drop/

Who knew that quality of life concerns and never-ending spending on social programs might hurt a tax base. This is a SHOCKING development.

seems like the bigger issue is that people are teleworking, so employers are downsizing the office space they need, and thus the value of commercial buildings has decreased. not that crime and homelessness aren't issues worth considering too. but I'm not sure what the zero-cost solutions to those would be.

+1. Downtown is still empty, that’s the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's correct. There are school buses but only for children who qualify. DCPS children can use the metro train or bus for free. Many kids go to their neighborhood school and there are many that do not. Some of the charter schools have buses for children that come from other parts of the city.

NP - which charters have busses? We’re a Ward 1 family with no car, so commute is a real limiting factor for us. I’d appreciate any info here. I’d love it if my kid could take a bus to some farther away charter schools.

there are so many good schools in ward 1! why would you send your kid to a charter. though if it's for upper grades, i can see that.

PP here. We’re happy at our IB school for now, but we’re zoned for CHEC for middle school which is an unappealing option. So we’ll need a middle school path, probably long before our three kids can take a city bus alone. $2100 a year is a heck of a lot less than owning a car!! So if there are other schools that have this, please speak up.

The only Middle School bus I’ve ever heard of is Latin. I believe it stops EOTR and on Capitol Hill. But if you’re in bounds for CHEC you should be able to metro or bike to other places. I see parents at our school drop their kids off then walk back to the Metro when they’re on the younger side. Or you put it in your budget now to save up for a cheap car or move if living car free and avoiding CHEC are both super important to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's correct. There are school buses but only for children who qualify. DCPS children can use the metro train or bus for free. Many kids go to their neighborhood school and there are many that do not. Some of the charter schools have buses for children that come from other parts of the city.

NP - which charters have busses? We’re a Ward 1 family with no car, so commute is a real limiting factor for us. I’d appreciate any info here. I’d love it if my kid could take a bus to some farther away charter schools.

there are so many good schools in ward 1! why would you send your kid to a charter. though if it's for upper grades, i can see that.

PP here. We’re happy at our IB school for now, but we’re zoned for CHEC for middle school which is an unappealing option. So we’ll need a middle school path, probably long before our three kids can take a city bus alone. $2100 a year is a heck of a lot less than owning a car!! So if there are other schools that have this, please speak up.

The only Middle School bus I’ve ever heard of is Latin. I believe it stops EOTR and on Capitol Hill. But if you’re in bounds for CHEC you should be able to metro or bike to other places. I see parents at our school drop their kids off then walk back to the Metro when they’re on the younger side. Or you put it in your budget now to save up for a cheap car or move if living car free and avoiding CHEC are both super important to you.

PP here. Sorry, I realize I was unclear in my post. My concern is not getting to middle school, at that age, they can take the city bus. My concern is that we may want to lottery to an elementary school that feeds into a middle school (ITS, Center City, Creative Minds, whatever) and I wouldn't let a 3rd grader ride a city bus alone, so that means one of us commuting with the kids and then back every day via city bus. If there was a school-specific bus, I'd have no qualms about putting an elementary schooler on it, and it'd make our lives easier (even if there was a pretty significant cost).

Surprised this isn't more common of a concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's correct. There are school buses but only for children who qualify. DCPS children can use the metro train or bus for free. Many kids go to their neighborhood school and there are many that do not. Some of the charter schools have buses for children that come from other parts of the city.

NP - which charters have busses? We’re a Ward 1 family with no car, so commute is a real limiting factor for us. I’d appreciate any info here. I’d love it if my kid could take a bus to some farther away charter schools.

there are so many good schools in ward 1! why would you send your kid to a charter. though if it's for upper grades, i can see that.

PP here. We’re happy at our IB school for now, but we’re zoned for CHEC for middle school which is an unappealing option. So we’ll need a middle school path, probably long before our three kids can take a city bus alone. $2100 a year is a heck of a lot less than owning a car!! So if there are other schools that have this, please speak up.

The only Middle School bus I’ve ever heard of is Latin. I believe it stops EOTR and on Capitol Hill. But if you’re in bounds for CHEC you should be able to metro or bike to other places. I see parents at our school drop their kids off then walk back to the Metro when they’re on the younger side. Or you put it in your budget now to save up for a cheap car or move if living car free and avoiding CHEC are both super important to you.

PP here. Sorry, I realize I was unclear in my post. My concern is not getting to middle school, at that age, they can take the city bus. My concern is that we may want to lottery to an elementary school that feeds into a middle school (ITS, Center City, Creative Minds, whatever) and I wouldn't let a 3rd grader ride a city bus alone, so that means one of us commuting with the kids and then back every day via city bus. If there was a school-specific bus, I'd have no qualms about putting an elementary schooler on it, and it'd make our lives easier (even if there was a pretty significant cost).

Surprised this isn't more common of a concern.

So you’d expect DC to crest bus routes for the 500 kids that attend ITS from nearly every zip code in the city times the dozens of Charter schools that are in the city plus the other dozens that are DCPS for OOB because people want to opt out of their neighborhood school in elementary? That’s not possible or even reasonable.

School choice means exactly that, the choice to pick a school that is different than your neighborhood school which means you accept that schools location, aftercare, curriculum, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those that don’t know already ALL WMATA buses are free in DC regardless of metro rides free.

Yes to echo others, nearly all zoned elementary schools are within 1 mile walking distance. The issues is that there is so many school choice options where it makes it moot.

Not yet.

They will by school year.

No, we likely don’t have the revenues to be able to pay for it.

https://dcist.com/story/23/03/01/fare-free-buses-in-jeopardy-as-d-c-revenue-projections-drop/

Who knew that quality of life concerns and never-ending spending on social programs might hurt a tax base. This is a SHOCKING development.

seems like the bigger issue is that people are teleworking, so employers are downsizing the office space they need, and thus the value of commercial buildings has decreased. not that crime and homelessness aren't issues worth considering too. but I'm not sure what the zero-cost solutions to those would be.

While property tax revenues are down, the fact that DC (unlike every other city) can't hit MD and VA residents with income tax for work in DC makes the revenue hit to Dc much less pronounced than for place like NYC where people commute in and pay part year income tax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's correct. There are school buses but only for children who qualify. DCPS children can use the metro train or bus for free. Many kids go to their neighborhood school and there are many that do not. Some of the charter schools have buses for children that come from other parts of the city.

NP - which charters have busses? We’re a Ward 1 family with no car, so commute is a real limiting factor for us. I’d appreciate any info here. I’d love it if my kid could take a bus to some farther away charter schools.

there are so many good schools in ward 1! why would you send your kid to a charter. though if it's for upper grades, i can see that.

PP here. We’re happy at our IB school for now, but we’re zoned for CHEC for middle school which is an unappealing option. So we’ll need a middle school path, probably long before our three kids can take a city bus alone. $2100 a year is a heck of a lot less than owning a car!! So if there are other schools that have this, please speak up.

The only Middle School bus I’ve ever heard of is Latin. I believe it stops EOTR and on Capitol Hill. But if you’re in bounds for CHEC you should be able to metro or bike to other places. I see parents at our school drop their kids off then walk back to the Metro when they’re on the younger side. Or you put it in your budget now to save up for a cheap car or move if living car free and avoiding CHEC are both super important to you.

PP here. Sorry, I realize I was unclear in my post. My concern is not getting to middle school, at that age, they can take the city bus. My concern is that we may want to lottery to an elementary school that feeds into a middle school (ITS, Center City, Creative Minds, whatever) and I wouldn't let a 3rd grader ride a city bus alone, so that means one of us commuting with the kids and then back every day via city bus. If there was a school-specific bus, I'd have no qualms about putting an elementary schooler on it, and it'd make our lives easier (even if there was a pretty significant cost).

Surprised this isn't more common of a concern.

This is very much a concern in communities without means and job flexibility and one of the reasons that charters aren't as accessible "to all" as many would have you think. It's just that this is DCUM so two parent professional households with au pairs are less likely to be concerned.

[Anonymous]

I think outside of neighborhood schools many folks are driving kids, at least up to middle school, whether it be to their OOB DCPS or charter. We drive from W1 to one of those schools. We could take bus or Metro theoretically but it would add, IDK, 1.5 hours to the daily parent commute and I just can't. I do know people who bike from W1 but they have max 2 kids and they have car backup for bad weather. The good news is once your kid is older they can commute on their own from W1 to pretty much any school pretty easily on Metro since it is so centrally located.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's correct. There are school buses but only for children who qualify. DCPS children can use the metro train or bus for free. Many kids go to their neighborhood school and there are many that do not. Some of the charter schools have buses for children that come from other parts of the city.

NP - which charters have busses? We’re a Ward 1 family with no car, so commute is a real limiting factor for us. I’d appreciate any info here. I’d love it if my kid could take a bus to some farther away charter schools.

there are so many good schools in ward 1! why would you send your kid to a charter. though if it's for upper grades, i can see that.

PP here. We’re happy at our IB school for now, but we’re zoned for CHEC for middle school which is an unappealing option. So we’ll need a middle school path, probably long before our three kids can take a city bus alone. $2100 a year is a heck of a lot less than owning a car!! So if there are other schools that have this, please speak up.

The only Middle School bus I’ve ever heard of is Latin. I believe it stops EOTR and on Capitol Hill. But if you’re in bounds for CHEC you should be able to metro or bike to other places. I see parents at our school drop their kids off then walk back to the Metro when they’re on the younger side. Or you put it in your budget now to save up for a cheap car or move if living car free and avoiding CHEC are both super important to you.

PP here. Sorry, I realize I was unclear in my post. My concern is not getting to middle school, at that age, they can take the city bus. My concern is that we may want to lottery to an elementary school that feeds into a middle school (ITS, Center City, Creative Minds, whatever) and I wouldn't let a 3rd grader ride a city bus alone, so that means one of us commuting with the kids and then back every day via city bus. If there was a school-specific bus, I'd have no qualms about putting an elementary schooler on it, and it'd make our lives easier (even if there was a pretty significant cost).

Surprised this isn't more common of a concern.

So you’d expect DC to crest bus routes for the 500 kids that attend ITS from nearly every zip code in the city times the dozens of Charter schools that are in the city plus the other dozens that are DCPS for OOB because people want to opt out of their neighborhood school in elementary? That’s not possible or even reasonable.

School choice means exactly that, the choice to pick a school that is different than your neighborhood school which means you accept that schools location, aftercare, curriculum, etc.

+ 1. Running citywide buses for every charter school just isn't feasible.