DCUM MCPS parents.. help me with MCPS bus question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I finally got an email back from the bus depot. This person said my DC cannot board the bus at a SN kid's private residence. I responded asking why. Anyone know?

Is the stop not listed?

OP here.

Yes, the stop is listed. And to the other PP's question about whether that bus goes to the same school as my DC's, yes it does. It is the same bus DC would've taken at the other stop. It's on the bus route schedule. It's the stop right after the stop at the neighborhood school where they pick up the other kids that go to the HGC.

And to make this even more frustrating, the timing of the bus schedule they have published is not the same timing that the bus driver is going by. I looked up the bus timings this morning, and talked to the bus driver today and saw the driver's schedule. It's off by 5 min. I checked the website again when I got home. Man, they are disorganized.

yes, I did ask the bus driver if my DC could take the bus at the private residence, and the driver said he didn't know. ARgh.

The answer is no. I asked the same question when my kids were in HGC and the bus stop at a private residence was right by my house. The private residence stops are for children with special needs and only that child can get on at that stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much time is this really going to save you, OP? It doesn't seem worth all the energy you are putting into it.

It's not just about the time.

I find it funny that some have mentioned getting rid of free bus service to save money for MCPS, and then some posters balk at it because it would increase traffic. Here, I'm saying it would reduce traffic if we could walk to a closer bus stop (like a few blocks away) rather than have to drive to a center stop (about a mile) away, and people here are complaining that I am being lazy and entitled. How does it make any sense that several families have to drive, adding to the congestion on the roads and at the school, rather than let them just walk a few blocks to a different bus stop?

I have never begrudged SN kids of special services provided by the school districts which take a chunk of the school's budget. But, I find some of the rules around this ridiculous. Other than physical disabilities, why do SN kids with IEPs need a bus stop all to themselves? Maybe if someone could explain it to me, then I could understand it. But, no one is explaining to me why a non SN kid can't use the same stop as a SN kid if that same bus is the one that the kid would get on but just at a different location. Maybe if I understood why a kid with an IEP, short of physical disabilities, needs the bus to stop right at there house, it would make sense to me. But no one has told me that either. I don't need to know that kid's specific reason, just a general reason. It can't be because the kid doesn't do well in crowds as someone mentioned because that bus is crowded, full of SN and non SN kids alike. It can't be because the parent doesn't want other kids waiting in front of their house because this happens with the neighborhood bus - it stops in front of a house, it's someone's house.

This is an anonymous forum. I have no idea who you are or where you live, so please explain to me why your SN kid with no physical disabilities needs a bus stop all to themselves and no other kid should be able to get on at the same stop. I am seriously looking to understand this. Like I said, I don't want to begrudge you this service, but then explain to me why a non SN kid can't use your stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's pushy. You are not considering the special needs family and you are not considering the school and bus system.

The effect on the school is zero (the kids get to school anyway). The effect on the bus system is zero (the bus stops there anyway). The effect on the special needs family is -- well, who knows? The only information is that the bus depot says that the OP can't do it and won't explain why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me Me Me

no, it's "we we we". "We" use the same bus and the same bus driver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I repeat, show some compassion for the special needs child and family. There are tons of kids that would like to attend the HGC program, and here you are trying to be pushy about the bus stop. You sound like that horrible parent.

NP here. You are a whack job!

How is the OP not showing compassion for the SN child and family. I think it actually encourages typical kids from interacting more with the SN kids. Why should SN kids be treated like a pariah, if they are going to regular school and classroom in a regular bus?

As for the HGC program - in the end, the kids who are in it are in it due to their performance. It could not be more merit based. I do not care if a thousand kids want to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.

I think it actually encourages typical kids from interacting more with the SN kids. Why should SN kids be treated like a pariah, if they are going to regular school and classroom in a regular bus?

SN kids don't get special bus stops. Only those SN kids that need a special bus stop get one. No one is going to tell OP the specifics of why that child gets a special bus stop and why her child (and all of the other neighborhood children) cannot use the bus stop. And, giving a particular child the service that child needs is not treating the child like a pariah - it's putting the child in the least restrictive environment, which is the goal of special education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.

I think it actually encourages typical kids from interacting more with the SN kids. Why should SN kids be treated like a pariah, if they are going to regular school and classroom in a regular bus?

SN kids don't get special bus stops. Only those SN kids that need a special bus stop get one. No one is going to tell OP the specifics of why that child gets a special bus stop and why her child (and all of the other neighborhood children) cannot use the bus stop. And, giving a particular child the service that child needs is not treating the child like a pariah - it's putting the child in the least restrictive environment, which is the goal of special education.

One example - a child with HFA who is a runner. In general education classroom because at or above grade level, but can't be out of sight of an adult. Until this child can regulate this dangerous behavior, the safest bus stop for him/her is in front of his house within eyesight of a parent. Ideally this issue is resolved so that child can join peers at neighborhood bus stop - and the house stop is a temporary thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.

I think it actually encourages typical kids from interacting more with the SN kids. Why should SN kids be treated like a pariah, if they are going to regular school and classroom in a regular bus?

SN kids don't get special bus stops. Only those SN kids that need a special bus stop get one. No one is going to tell OP the specifics of why that child gets a special bus stop and why her child (and all of the other neighborhood children) cannot use the bus stop. And, giving a particular child the service that child needs is not treating the child like a pariah - it's putting the child in the least restrictive environment, which is the goal of special education.

OP here. I am not asking to know that specific child's reason. I'm just looking for a good reason, in general, why kids can't use a bus stop meant for a SN child. I understand that bus stop was specifically created for that SN child. But, I don't see why someone else can't use it since it's there.

Someone used an example of an aide in the class that is specific to that SN need, and how no other kids can use that aide. I agree with that. But, let's say a non SN kid needed help picking up a chair and putting it on the table at the end of the day (they do this, btw), and the aide was nice enough to help that kid. Would you really tell that aide you can't do that?

I assume most people without physical disabilities have one time or another sat on the seat reserved for people with physical disabilities when the seat was empty on a bus or train. I'm sure most people would get up and give that seat to the person with the physical disability if such a person boarded the train. That seat wasn't met for able bodied people, but most of us at one time or another have used it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

One example - a child with HFA who is a runner. In general education classroom because at or above grade level, but can't be out of sight of an adult. Until this child can regulate this dangerous behavior, the safest bus stop for him/her is in front of his house within eyesight of a parent. Ideally this issue is resolved so that child can join peers at neighborhood bus stop - and the house stop is a temporary thing.

That makes sense, but in that case, why can't the bus depot tell the OP, "Our policy is that the general population can only use permanent bus stops, whereas we classify this as a temporary bus stop."? That wouldn't violate anybody's privacy.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I am not asking to know that specific child's reason. I'm just looking for a good reason, in general, why kids can't use a bus stop meant for a SN child.

Yes you are, OP. The question has been answered repeatedly. Kids get special bus stops when they cannot handle a regular one for some reason or another. It may be because they cannot handle stimulation from other kids, that they are runners, that they have special equipment and take extra time loading (and it would be a nightmare and very time consuming to have ten other kids getting on the bus at their house), because the stop is unsafe to have multiple kids gathering, etc. You don't need a specific reason but that's the only thing that will satisfy you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. I am not asking to know that specific child's reason. I'm just looking for a good reason, in general, why kids can't use a bus stop meant for a SN child.

Yes you are, OP. The question has been answered repeatedly. Kids get special bus stops when they cannot handle a regular one for some reason or another. It may be because they cannot handle stimulation from other kids, that they are runners, that they have special equipment and take extra time loading (and it would be a nightmare and very time consuming to have ten other kids getting on the bus at their house), because the stop is unsafe to have multiple kids gathering, etc. You don't need a specific reason but that's the only thing that will satisfy you.

The only one that makes sense is the physical disability, which as I said, that is one reason I can understand the stop may be limited.

1. if they can't handle stimulation from other kids, then they shouldn't be on a crowded school bus. Like I said, the bus is for non SN kids as well
2. if they are runners, then what do they do with such a child when they get to school? Yes, the child may have an aide, but how is that any different than a parent being with that child at a central bus stop?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. I am not asking to know that specific child's reason. I'm just looking for a good reason, in general, why kids can't use a bus stop meant for a SN child.

Yes you are, OP. The question has been answered repeatedly. Kids get special bus stops when they cannot handle a regular one for some reason or another. It may be because they cannot handle stimulation from other kids, that they are runners, that they have special equipment and take extra time loading (and it would be a nightmare and very time consuming to have ten other kids getting on the bus at their house), because the stop is unsafe to have multiple kids gathering, etc. You don't need a specific reason but that's the only thing that will satisfy you.

This answers the question, "Why do SN children get special stops?" It doesn't answer the question, "Why can't my child use one of the special stops?"

Perhaps the reason the OP's child can't use one of the special stops is that it is bus depot policy that non-SN children may not use a stop for a SN child. If so, that's what the bus depot should tell OP.

[Anonymous]

This discussion is actually fascinating, and it would help us all if we could just see the policy/rule in writing. When did it begin? Why don't they publish the restriction on the bus routes for the HGC, instead of just publishing the full route with all the neighborhood stops as though any of them can be used?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. I am not asking to know that specific child's reason. I'm just looking for a good reason, in general, why kids can't use a bus stop meant for a SN child.

Yes you are, OP. The question has been answered repeatedly. Kids get special bus stops when they cannot handle a regular one for some reason or another. It may be because they cannot handle stimulation from other kids, that they are runners, that they have special equipment and take extra time loading (and it would be a nightmare and very time consuming to have ten other kids getting on the bus at their house), because the stop is unsafe to have multiple kids gathering, etc. You don't need a specific reason but that's the only thing that will satisfy you.

This answers the question, "Why do SN children get special stops?" It doesn't answer the question, "Why can't my child use one of the special stops?"

Perhaps the reason the OP's child can't use one of the special stops is that it is bus depot policy that non-SN children may not use a stop for a SN child. If so, that's what the bus depot should tell OP.

OP here. So, I got a letter today saying this very thing. Still doesn't explain why, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. I am not asking to know that specific child's reason. I'm just looking for a good reason, in general, why kids can't use a bus stop meant for a SN child.

Yes you are, OP. The question has been answered repeatedly. Kids get special bus stops when they cannot handle a regular one for some reason or another. It may be because they cannot handle stimulation from other kids, that they are runners, that they have special equipment and take extra time loading (and it would be a nightmare and very time consuming to have ten other kids getting on the bus at their house), because the stop is unsafe to have multiple kids gathering, etc. You don't need a specific reason but that's the only thing that will satisfy you.

This answers the question, "Why do SN children get special stops?" It doesn't answer the question, "Why can't my child use one of the special stops?"

Perhaps the reason the OP's child can't use one of the special stops is that it is bus depot policy that non-SN children may not use a stop for a SN child. If so, that's what the bus depot should tell OP.

OP here. So, I got a letter today saying this very thing. Still doesn't explain why, though.

Ah. Well, now you know the answer, OP. You asked, and the bus depot told you. I think that it's time to move on.