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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the great wisdom now in our walking field trip to a local church “pumpkin patch” in town!

the Cox Farm fieldtrip is really miserable. As is the apple picking field trip.

People get stuck on these as “traditions” instead of realizing that kids would have just as much fun taking the Metro bus to the zoo.

Ha! My 9th grader at Jackson-Reed did just that today. She's sending me pics and having a blast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just heard that the third bus that came to pick up the kids was not operational and NONE of the drivers had a CDL license. DCPS heads need to roll. Who hired these fools?

Rome Charters LLC

If the school organized the trip themselves, they pick the company they hire for bus service. So Murch very well could have picked the company.

Not how it works. DCPS provided the buses.

Our ES hires the bus company directly — or at least they did a few years back. Has anything changed?

Your ES is likely hiring from a list of centrally approved vendors with pre-negotiated contract pricing. Rome Charters is (was?) a DCPS approved vendor.

RIP Rome Charters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the article:
FOX 5’s Melanie Alnwick discovered that after police arrived they found Reynolds did not have a commercial driver’s license and that he had a prior DWI charge. Two additional buses that stopped along with the bus Reynolds was driving were taken out of service after safety violations were found. The drivers of those buses also did not have their commercial driver’s licenses.

The buses weren't safe and NONE of the drivers had licenses. Even without the DWI, what kind of joke of a bus company was this?? Unreal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the great wisdom now in our walking field trip to a local church “pumpkin patch” in town!

the Cox Farm fieldtrip is really miserable. As is the apple picking field trip.

People get stuck on these as “traditions” instead of realizing that kids would have just as much fun taking the Metro bus to the zoo.

Ha! My 9th grader at Jackson-Reed did just that today. She's sending me pics and having a blast.

Honestly I don't know which one I would be more nervous about. Lot of violence on Metro lately. Someone's kid could easily get attacked by random teen hoodlums or a mentally ill person

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, why not just do most field trips by metro? DC is full of great things you can access via metro, walking, or other forms of public transportation:

Zoo via metro
Smithsonians/Mall/monuments via metro
Kingman Island/Fields at RFK via metro and streetcar
Rock Creek Park via metro
Kennedy Center via metro

And so on. I get that it's good for kids to get out of the city but is this compulsory Cox Farms trip the right way to do it? Especially when everyone in DC does the same trip around the same time every year?

I mean ideally we'd have buses that had drivers who were properly licensed and not drunk, but if that's too expensive there is no reason kids can't still do field trips and experience new things outside their neighborhood and comfort zone without putting them at risk.

My kids have been on many field trips on Metro and they were fine (except for a few dumbazz parents who refused to follow clear directions from teachers). But not every school is Metro-accessible.

Didn’t realize any field trip was compulsory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the great wisdom now in our walking field trip to a local church “pumpkin patch” in town!

the Cox Farm fieldtrip is really miserable. As is the apple picking field trip.

People get stuck on these as “traditions” instead of realizing that kids would have just as much fun taking the Metro bus to the zoo.

Ha! My 9th grader at Jackson-Reed did just that today. She's sending me pics and having a blast.

Honestly I don't know which one I would be more nervous about. Lot of violence on Metro lately. Someone's kid could easily get attacked by random teen hoodlums or a mentally ill person

Getting in a car accident is MUCH morw likely than that. Cars are #1 cause of death for kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, why not just do most field trips by metro? DC is full of great things you can access via metro, walking, or other forms of public transportation:

Zoo via metro
Smithsonians/Mall/monuments via metro
Kingman Island/Fields at RFK via metro and streetcar
Rock Creek Park via metro
Kennedy Center via metro

And so on. I get that it's good for kids to get out of the city but is this compulsory Cox Farms trip the right way to do it? Especially when everyone in DC does the same trip around the same time every year?

I mean ideally we'd have buses that had drivers who were properly licensed and not drunk, but if that's too expensive there is no reason kids can't still do field trips and experience new things outside their neighborhood and comfort zone without putting them at risk.

My kids have been on many field trips on Metro and they were fine (except for a few dumbazz parents who refused to follow clear directions from teachers). But not every school is Metro-accessible.

Didn’t realize any field trip was compulsory.

Field trips are not compulsory but it's really very beneficial for kids to get out of the school environment now and then. It helps with learning (the novelty can really help certain things sink it) plus teaches them all kinds of skills they can't acquire in a classroom. Field trips are also particularly valuable for kids from either lower income homes or who have parents who don't care -- they might otherwise not get a chance to visit a science museum or see farm animals up close. It can really expand horizons.

The vast majority of schools in DC are within a mile of a metro stop. And there are also other "local" field trips that schools could investigate that don't involve driving out to Centreville. I've heard of schools taking kids to local businesses to see how the business works behind the scenes, to artists studios, or to some of the many historical sites within the city. You don't have to go to Cox Farms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, DCPS cancelled all field trips? Even walking/metro?

No one posted a source or a link. I work at a DCPS and I haven't heard about this.

My kid is on a field trip rn. To a pumpkin patch no less. Maybe it’s effective next week…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the great wisdom now in our walking field trip to a local church “pumpkin patch” in town!

the Cox Farm fieldtrip is really miserable. As is the apple picking field trip.

People get stuck on these as “traditions” instead of realizing that kids would have just as much fun taking the Metro bus to the zoo.

Ha! My 9th grader at Jackson-Reed did just that today. She's sending me pics and having a blast.

Honestly I don't know which one I would be more nervous about. Lot of violence on Metro lately. Someone's kid could easily get attacked by random teen hoodlums or a mentally ill person

Getting in a car accident is MUCH morw likely than that. Cars are #1 cause of death for kids.

+1 and kids on a field trip on Metro are unlikely to run into problems. The violence on metro is generally not random and does not happen during the school day. It's usually older kids or young adults who know each other, getting into skirmishes after school lets out or in the evening after alcohol and drugs are consumed. Kids riding to the zoo at 10am have almost zero risk of encountering any issues.

Whereas if you put kids on buses driven on freeways by unlicensed drivers with drinking problems, the likelihood of something bad happening go way up.

[Anonymous]

Murch staff did a tremendous job here. As it is throughout DC government, the problem here is incompetent contracting with private vendors.

How could this bus company possibly be on a list of approved vendors? Who makes that list? How often is it reviewed?

[Anonymous]

I know Mr C well and he does as well as anyone could in a very difficult job. He has to deal with overbearing parents and a strong teachers union, not to mention his DCPS bosses. He loves the school and the kids and is a standup guy. None of this is his fault, including the communication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: None of this is his fault, including the communication.

This incident is absolutely NOT Mr. C's fault. No question.

But, after also knowing him for many years, I disagree that he's a standup guy. Don't think he communicates well to parents and don't think he leads the staff well.

[Anonymous]

This is not the 1st time DCPS has had problems with bus to Cox. My child is now in 6th grade and his K trip to K had a bus break down on the way home. The parents on the bus were all concerned about the safety of the bus.

Where is FMCSA with this?

[Anonymous]

I heard he is close to retirement - maybe it's time.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have a link or actual information that upcoming field trips are cancelled?