kid got on wrong bus - news

[Anonymous]

http://wtop.com/prince-georges-county/2015/09/md-mother-heartbroken-angry-after-son-4-placed-on-wrong-bus/

Well, at least the fifth and sixth graders were proactive since the mother was just too "heartbroken" to get out of the damn car and figure out where her kid was. The hell?

[Anonymous]

I heard the story and the mom. I can totally see losing it for a few minutes, sobbing in the car paralyzed with fear that my child was missing. It's not like she simply sat there for hours, so don't berate her.

Great thinking by the older kids, but honestly the better bet would have been for them to inform the bus driver so that he/she could contact back to the school. Either way, they were looking out for the kid which was good.

[Anonymous]

It happens every year from what I hear. And the school system tries to minimize it, until it hits the news. When my child was in K, she ended up on the bus home instead of at the school's aftercare. Luckily, my mother was home. My daughter saw it as some big-girl adventure, and other children helped her cross the street. But I was ticked. The school was on the defensive and put the blame on my 4.5-year-old child.

[Anonymous]

I think this is the third story this week for PG schools. I get that their is a lot of chaos with dismissal, but why can't there institute some sort of tracking system? Like every bus is a different letter, with the letter displayed on the window. And each stop is numbered. Every bus rider wears the letter/number around their neck at dismissal. Then the bus driver checks the letter when they get on and the number when they get off at the stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is the third story this week for PG schools. I get that their is a lot of chaos with dismissal, but why can't there institute some sort of tracking system? Like every bus is a different letter, with the letter displayed on the window. And each stop is numbered. Every bus rider wears the letter/number around their neck at dismissal. Then the bus driver checks the letter when they get on and the number when they get off at the stop.

I think this depends on the school. At our school, we were told that the little kids needed to wear their name and bus route pinned to their shirt for the first week. The county school system actually sent home a postcard (along with the bus stop info for AM and PM for the parents to fill out) that the kids could wear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is the third story this week for PG schools. I get that their is a lot of chaos with dismissal, but why can't there institute some sort of tracking system? Like every bus is a different letter, with the letter displayed on the window. And each stop is numbered. Every bus rider wears the letter/number around their neck at dismissal. Then the bus driver checks the letter when they get on and the number when they get off at the stop.

I think this depends on the school. At our school, we were told that the little kids needed to wear their name and bus route pinned to their shirt for the first week. The county school system actually sent home a postcard (along with the bus stop info for AM and PM for the parents to fill out) that the kids could wear.

PS - a parent also suggested that kids who aren't riding the bus have that on the card. A similar situation as the PP mentioned. Her child was supposed to be picked up, and the teacher basically forced the little girl to get on the bus. So the first day of school, I put that my son would be picked up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is the third story this week for PG schools. I get that their is a lot of chaos with dismissal, but why can't there institute some sort of tracking system? Like every bus is a different letter, with the letter displayed on the window. And each stop is numbered. Every bus rider wears the letter/number around their neck at dismissal. Then the bus driver checks the letter when they get on and the number when they get off at the stop.

I think this depends on the school. At our school, we were told that the little kids needed to wear their name and bus route pinned to their shirt for the first week. The county school system actually sent home a postcard (along with the bus stop info for AM and PM for the parents to fill out) that the kids could wear.

PS - a parent also suggested that kids who aren't riding the bus have that on the card. A similar situation as the PP mentioned. Her child was supposed to be picked up, and the teacher basically forced the little girl to get on the bus. So the first day of school, I put that my son would be picked up.

Yes. A substitute teacher let my child go and a staffer out front told her yo get on the bus. Plus, when there was no one to meet her at the stop, she was supposed to be returned yo school, per school policy. Never happened. I spoke with my child to make sure she knew my expectations, especially since the school, teacher and aftercare were playing the blame game.