Ugh....time to wake my 8th grader up

[Anonymous]

What is the issue with the late busses? Doesn't make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wait until HS sports get fully started. Coaches and players have maybe ten minutes after school ends to get practice started. Likely the HS students will come home from practices later, start homework later, stay up later and...still lack sleep and shortchange themselves.

Also, traffic patterns are drastically altered. It should not take my HS student 25 minutes to drive 1.5 miles.

Playing sports is a choice, not mandatory.

[Anonymous]

Why don't you just drive your kid to school instead of bus? A few extra minutes of sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just drive your kid to school instead of bus? A few extra minutes of sleep.

To start-- because someone needs to be here keeping the ES kid safe, eating breakfast and on track to get her bus. Heading out for 30-40 minutes in the middle of getting her ready isn't an option for my DH (half spent in the kiss and ride line because no one is bussing). And the days I telework, I now log in by 7:00, so I can be off at 3:30, and which point DS has been home for an hour, and DD is getting ready to get home, so I can concentrate on them. Some people (1) don't live right beside the MS, (2) have other children, and (3) can't drop everything (like their job) to do the MS run. Hence, the need for busses in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just drive your kid to school instead of bus? A few extra minutes of sleep.

Because the school is 25 minutes each way. If I drive, I will lose close to an hour of work, meaning I will have to be at work an hour later. And it will only give DD an extra 5 minutes or so. (the bus takes an efficient route to us -- we are the last stop before the school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the issue with the late busses? Doesn't make sense.

Our bus now comes twenty minutes later, which would make me late for work. So now DC is in morning SACC, and is costing me $175/month. Not the end of the world, but would be nice not to have to spend the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you just drive your kid to school instead of bus? A few extra minutes of sleep.

To start-- because someone needs to be here keeping the ES kid safe, eating breakfast and on track to get her bus. Heading out for 30-40 minutes in the middle of getting her ready isn't an option for my DH (half spent in the kiss and ride line because no one is bussing). And the days I telework, I now log in by 7:00, so I can be off at 3:30, and which point DS has been home for an hour, and DD is getting ready to get home, so I can concentrate on them. Some people (1) don't live right beside the MS, (2) have other children, and (3) can't drop everything (like their job) to do the MS run. Hence, the need for busses in the first place.

I totally agree, the school and bus schedule should be aligned to be most beneficial to your life.

[Anonymous]

I think I would move if my kid had to get on a school bus before 7am. Seriously that is crazy, for any age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I would move if my kid had to get on a school bus before 7am. Seriously that is crazy, for any age.

Well, given that we were just given the transportation schedule 10 days ago, relocation to another county has not been feasible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I would move if my kid had to get on a school bus before 7am. Seriously that is crazy, for any age.

I assume that means you have never had a HS student in FCPS in the past two decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were there really drastic changes in middle school start times? My DS started HS this year, but I just checked and his MS's start time changed from 7:40 to 7:30. Both times are probably too early, but it shouldn't seem like a big change compared to last year.

Actually his bus for HS is only 5 or 10 minutes later than his MS bus was last year. I don't know how long they think it takes to travel 3 miles to the school, but they seem to be allowing 45 minutes after the last stop!

Going from 9:15 elem school to 7:30 middle school is a drastic change for us! But I am glad theHS will now start at 8:10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the issue with the late busses? Doesn't make sense.

Last year the bus route was:

High school release
Middle school release
Elementary release
Cycle back for ms late buses

Now the ms and hs flipped their release times, but the buses are still tied up doing elementary drop off until 430 so they aren't available for late bus service until then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate the new school times. I had been trying to get her on a school schedule, but failed. Now, I am going into to the lions den (or Guinea Pig Den, as the case may be)!

Wish me luck!

your post was at 5:47

previous to the improvement, our kids schedule for high school started at 5:30 to leave house by 6:15 to be at bus stop by 6:20.

you have almost 17 extra mins of sleep.

all kids should have to wake up at 5:30 for high school years. it just makes so much sense.

[Anonymous]

My 12 year old daughter walked to the bus in the dark today. Not happy.

[Anonymous]

It's only going to get worse all winter long. I'm hoping for a lot of 2 hr delays!