So annoyed at bus - is this par for the course in MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bus driver cannot control traffic or the environment around him. Most SN buses have lots of stops in a wide area. If the child before your stop is late, then it has a domino affect.

I'm not trying to be snarky here, but you are fortunate to have a school bus stop right in front of your house for your child. It's not perfect, and I'm sure it can get annoying but just be aware that sometimes, it may not be in the bus driver's control.

Like you, I grew up with no school bus. We had to walk a mile. So, as annoying as it can be sometimes (we've had incidences in mcps where the bus was super late), I'm still pretty grateful for the *free* buses.

OP here.
Thanks for the reality check, but my son would far rather walk a mile on his own time! It would be less stressful and he would get to school faster. However, the school is double the distance.

PP here. I agree with the others that you should call the transportation dept. I've had to upon occasion.

If it gets that annoying, it seems to me that one of you is at home, so why not just drive him to school yourself if it's only 2 miles? Why keep getting frustrated?

OP here.
That's exactly what I want to do from now on! We have other kids to get to other schools, but we'll manage.

My follow-up question is:

Would my son still be allowed to take the afternoon bus home if he withdraws from the morning bus route? That one is always very reliable. Different driver.

I believe yes your child can take the bus home. But, you should definitely call the supervisor to let them know that you don't need service in the morning, but will do so in the afternoon. Better, yet, as PPs have suggested, why not just talk to the supervisor about the chronic tardiness and see if that makes a difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bus driver cannot control traffic or the environment around him. Most SN buses have lots of stops in a wide area. If the child before your stop is late, then it has a domino affect.

I'm not trying to be snarky here, but you are fortunate to have a school bus stop right in front of your house for your child. It's not perfect, and I'm sure it can get annoying but just be aware that sometimes, it may not be in the bus driver's control.

Like you, I grew up with no school bus. We had to walk a mile. So, as annoying as it can be sometimes (we've had incidences in mcps where the bus was super late), I'm still pretty grateful for the *free* buses.

OP here.
Thanks for the reality check, but my son would far rather walk a mile on his own time! It would be less stressful and he would get to school faster. However, the school is double the distance.

PP here. I agree with the others that you should call the transportation dept. I've had to upon occasion.

If it gets that annoying, it seems to me that one of you is at home, so why not just drive him to school yourself if it's only 2 miles? Why keep getting frustrated?

OP here.
That's exactly what I want to do from now on! We have other kids to get to other schools, but we'll manage.

My follow-up question is:

Would my son still be allowed to take the afternoon bus home if he withdraws from the morning bus route? That one is always very reliable. Different driver.

I believe yes your child can take the bus home. But, you should definitely call the supervisor to let them know that you don't need service in the morning, but will do so in the afternoon. Better, yet, as PPs have suggested, why not just talk to the supervisor about the chronic tardiness and see if that makes a difference?

OP here again.

I had not mentioned this before, so as not to muddy the waters, but at the beginning of the week the supervisor called us because the bus driver had complained we were always late to the bus stop, which is not true. The bus driver tells my son at what time he should be waiting the next morning. We obey, but the bus never comes when the driver says he will come: sometimes my son is right on time, sometimes he has to wait 15 to 20 minutes, and frequently the bus arrives earlier than announced and my son has to rush out of the house, without brushing his teeth or forgetting his PE or lunch bag. We feel gas-lighted by the bus driver, if that is the correct term. However the supervisor refused to to believe this and adopted a rather condescending tone, explaining that in our area rush hour can change bus arrival time. I have difficulty believing that, I admit. For the later, elementary school, pick-up times, I can well believe rush hour creates a ton of problems, because that's when our area jams up completely, but not at 7:15am when traffic is still relatively light.

Sorry for the long explanation, but my point is that I don't feel the supervisor is really going to work with me on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP here again.

I had not mentioned this before, so as not to muddy the waters, but at the beginning of the week the supervisor called us because the bus driver had complained we were always late to the bus stop, which is not true. The bus driver tells my son at what time he should be waiting the next morning. We obey, but the bus never comes when the driver says he will come: sometimes my son is right on time, sometimes he has to wait 15 to 20 minutes, and frequently the bus arrives earlier than announced and my son has to rush out of the house, without brushing his teeth or forgetting his PE or lunch bag. We feel gas-lighted by the bus driver, if that is the correct term. However the supervisor refused to to believe this and adopted a rather condescending tone, explaining that in our area rush hour can change bus arrival time. I have difficulty believing that, I admit. For the later, elementary school, pick-up times, I can well believe rush hour creates a ton of problems, because that's when our area jams up completely, but not at 7:15am when traffic is still relatively light.

Sorry for the long explanation, but my point is that I don't feel the supervisor is really going to work with me on this.

Oh, and I forgot to clarify that the supervisor called the day before the bus driver started being 30 minutes late. So we've gone from bad to worse, basically.

[Anonymous]

Here's the one thing that can't be predicted: traffic.

Bus times vary. Yes, the driver plans to be there at 7:15, but it could easily be anywhere between 7:10 and 7:25 without any fault on the part of the driver.

Talk to the supervisor. Get a time and a window of time. Explain that the driver giving your child a time for the next morning isn't working. (Tho a reminder like "tomorrow is Veteran's Day, so the traffic will be really light. Be here 10 minute early" would be helpful before those situations.)

I've found that it takes a good 3 weeks of regular, polite phone calls to iron out bus problems.

[Anonymous]

Hmm, OP, I'm chiming in late but this seems really weird. We live on a very busy street and while the elementary bus times can vary a bit, the bus that my older child takes to his MCPS middle school has come every morning like clockwork (716am; we send our son out the door at 712am on the dot just to be sure.) The only time that differed was on the orientation half day, just before the start of school when the bus arrived about 10 mins before it was supposed to.

Now, we are the second stop on the route, so it's possible that's a factor. But variations of 30 minutes are definitely not the norm in our experience.

[Anonymous]

And early should never happen. I would keep a log every day for record.

[Anonymous]

You sound like you don't want to have a bigger confrontation with the supervisor but if you do you could take a snapshot of the bus when it arrives early or late and email it to him as part of your log.

That way there's no he says, she says.

Also is it possible your son is misremembering the time the bus driver gave him? Can you go to the supervisor's supervisor or to your IEP team?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bus driver cannot control traffic or the environment around him. Most SN buses have lots of stops in a wide area. If the child before your stop is late, then it has a domino affect.

I'm not trying to be snarky here, but you are fortunate to have a school bus stop right in front of your house for your child. It's not perfect, and I'm sure it can get annoying but just be aware that sometimes, it may not be in the bus driver's control.

Like you, I grew up with no school bus. We had to walk a mile. So, as annoying as it can be sometimes (we've had incidences in mcps where the bus was super late), I'm still pretty grateful for the *free* buses.

No, she's not "fortunate." Her child has a disability that means that he either can't go to the neighborhood school and/or can't ride the neighborhood bus. Be happy that you are "fortunate" that none of your children has a disability.

OP, keep a log of what happens every morning. I.e: Monday: expected bus at 7:15. Was outside waiting at 7:10. Bus came at 7:45. Tuesday: expected bus at 7:15. Came at 6:55. Refused to wait. After a week, discuss log with supervisor.

[Anonymous]

Can he wait inside the house at least?

[Anonymous]

That the bus is consistently late is a huge problem and cannot be blamed on traffic. My kids are at a MS magnet and are the last stop before arriving at the school. Even though the bus has traveled a long distance through busy Rockville streets to get to us (in the direction of traffic), in the last 2 years, the bus has only been late a handful of times. The vast majority of times, he is within 1-2 minutes of listed arrival. The rule is, you should be at the bus stop at least 5 minutes before listed arrival. Not all drivers will wait if they arrive early.

I would continue communications with the bus depot - take it up the chain - but keep on them.

[Anonymous]

We have many years' experience with FCPS special Ed transportation. Those buses have cameras and some kind of Gps record that logs what time the bus made each stop.

Our stop is at our driveway so my dc can wait indoors. The buses will usually wait 3-5 minutes for her to come out.

We had one year where the bus was regularly 20+ minutes late, which made me crazy because we were dragging him out of bed so early for a long bus ride. It turned out the driver was regularly late to work (our dc was the first stop). Traffic in the morning has never been an issue (pickup time is before 7). I suspect that's what's happening here as well.

I would ask for a firm pickup and drop off time, find out how long the driver will wait for him to come out, and track exact pick ups/drop offs so you have info to provide the supervisor.

[Anonymous]

OP, confused here. You say your son is special needs but you also say he is late to the "bus stop." If he is special needs, you should be receiving Door-to-Door transportation to your home written into his IEP.

Is this the case?

[Anonymous]

SN parent here. You should not be basing your pickup time on what your driver tells you but on your written transportation orders. You get these by mail. If you did not get a copy ask for one.

[Anonymous]

OP here again.

I cancelled the morning bus route late last week and was mulling over a written letter to the supervisor and transportation office, since the supervisor I had previously had a conversation with adopted a condescending tone, kept interrupting me and used arguments which seemed to me to be invalid.

If anyone wants to chime in again, you are welcome to. Thank you all for your help! I felt quite ignorant about the ins and outs of this before I posted.

To clarify a few points PPs asked about:
1. We have a written letter with the official pick-up time, which the driver wants to supersede with his own time. He changes that time every few days and tells my son that there will be a new time for the following morning, but the bus doesn't even come at that time anyway.

2. The bus stop is near our house, but does not stop at our driveway, perhaps because the road narrows there to just one lane?

3. The supervisor specifically told me my son was not supposed to wait indoors for the bus and that my son should be the one to wait, not the bus driver.

4. Due to the erratic arrival of the bus, my son has been "late", early or very early for the bus.

[Anonymous]

It makes no sense to me that the bus doesn't come to your house. Doesn't matter whether you live on a small street. If your son has an IEP he gets door to door.