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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The update from the principal made it sound like it was a fairly minor accident - skipped the juiciest detail though.

I'm a little annoyed by that email. It was definitely hiding the ball about the seriousness of what happened. It made it sound like the bus just went over a patch of rough road and some kids got bounced forward in their seats. I was pretty confused about why the kids had to get off the bus and wait for new transportation and why the police were there. It all makes sense now of course.

Either tell us the real story or don't send an email at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The update from the principal made it sound like it was a fairly minor accident - skipped the juiciest detail though.

I'm a little annoyed by that email. It was definitely hiding the ball about the seriousness of what happened. It made it sound like the bus just went over a patch of rough road and some kids got bounced forward in their seats. I was pretty confused about why the kids had to get off the bus and wait for new transportation and why the police were there. It all makes sense now of course.

Either tell us the real story or don't send an email at all

I totally agree, though I imagine that letter was Central Office-written, revised and/or approved based on the letterhead, and as opposed to his normal comms to families.

[Anonymous]

This is terrible, but I just want to make clear the principal is outstanding. I know that COVID communications had to be edited and cleared by the DCPS Central Office, and like a PP said, I bet the DC Central Office controlled content of the email about this incident to parents.

There should be a light shined brightly on this incident, and on DCPS's screening of contracted buses.

My DD went on that trip last year and loved it, so I hesitate to say not to go on bus trips. Now I know if I chaperone to check out the driver really closely. Maybe strike up a brief conversation to see if their breath smells and if their reactions seem right.

[Anonymous]

I am not going to agree with the assertion that the principal is outstanding.

I do agree that the letter was definitely written by the central office (the language used was not how he speaks/writes). I am sure he was not allowed to freely communicate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not going to agree with the assertion that the principal is outstanding.

I do agree that the letter was definitely written by the central office (the language used was not how he speaks/writes). I am sure he was not allowed to freely communicate.

Mr. C is great, and that letter almost certainly was written by a DCPS attorney.

[Anonymous]

DCPS just suspended all field trips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS just suspended all field trips.

So the response is to punish the kids. I hope parents of all the students on that bus file a class action lawsuit against DC PS that will shed light on what is clearly a broken process with little or no oversight. I guarantee the deeper everyone looks at the busing program with DCPS it will be revealed to be rife with incompetence and corruption

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS just suspended all field trips.

source or link?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS just suspended all field trips.

source or link?

+1. Our Title 1 doesn't have the money for buses anyways. It would be nuts to ban field trips using public transportation, though wouldn't put it past them...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not going to agree with the assertion that the principal is outstanding.

I do agree that the letter was definitely written by the central office (the language used was not how he speaks/writes). I am sure he was not allowed to freely communicate.

I am the PP of the email complaint and I also like Mr. C a lot. I agree that DCPS central office probably wrote the misleading email.

Suspending all field trips seems heavy-handed and unlikely to address the actual problem (i.e., that whoever is responsible for vetting the contractors isn't doing their job).

But a response that does nothing to address the problem and mostly hurts the kids is par for the course from DCPS

[Anonymous]

What is shocking is that they doubled down with more unqualified drivers to the scene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not going to agree with the assertion that the principal is outstanding.

I do agree that the letter was definitely written by the central office (the language used was not how he speaks/writes). I am sure he was not allowed to freely communicate.

I am the PP of the email complaint and I also like Mr. C a lot. I agree that DCPS central office probably wrote the misleading email.

Suspending all field trips seems heavy-handed and unlikely to address the actual problem (i.e., that whoever is responsible for vetting the contractors isn't doing their job).

But a response that does nothing to address the problem and mostly hurts the kids is par for the course from DCPS

I'd agree that suspending field trips on the Metro is excessive, but suspending field trips on contracted busses until the process for vetting contractors is reviewed and fixed seems like the the only option. If the process is broken, there's no way to fix that that isn't going to deprive kids of field trips for a while. "Hurting kids" in that way is unavoidable here.

[Anonymous]

Wow they had another school bus driver charged with a DWI picking up VA students at a pumpkin patch.


Honestly, I would have to be pretty liquored up to handle a bus load of kids, which is why I don’t drive a school bus. I know my limits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS just suspended all field trips.

Not surprising. DCPS doesn't own it's own bus fleet and has to rely on the contractors. They probably want to review every transport contract and the drivers' qualifications. It's clear that no one was being background checked at this transport company. None of the drivers on the trip had a CDL!

This is bad, bad, bad. Heads better roll at DCPS Central Office too. Whomever is handling transport logistics and contracts is asleep at the wheel. The Central Office did zero due diligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is shocking is that they doubled down with more unqualified drivers to the scene.

Yes! It shows that actual qualifications required are not even on the radar of the company or the drivers themselves.