You should praise your child for thinking on his feet and walking home. I don't see how the busdriver would really know. But you could mention it to the school gently, taking responsibility for your end of things, just to suggest that the bus driver be vigilant.

You should talk to some other parents at the bus stop and cover for each other in case of an issue. This is a better solution than complaining and getting the bus driver in trouble for your mistake.

Did you kindergarten have to cross a street to get the half a block to your house? If not I wouldn't complain. I walked 6 blocks home from kindergarten by myself in the 70's as did many of my friends. If he had to cross a street by himself then I would complain.

i am pp and when i referred to "it" happening more than a handful of times last year i meant that a caregiver/parent wasn't at the stop to meet a kindergartener (and it sounded like in most of these cases the kids were taken back to the school and their parents and/or emergency contacts were called.)

does the policy vary by school?

at our k orientation the principal at our school explicitly said that the driver was not supposed to let kindergarteners off the bus without someone to meet them. he said that it happened more than a handful of times last year and they first circle around the block and make a second pass and then they take them back to the school.

i'm not really sure how this works in practice, though, as our bus stop is pretty big and i still can't tell which kid goes with which parents. it may be up to the kid to signal to the driver that no one is there to meet him/her. or maybe the driver takes a quick glance out and makes sure each child is running to an adult (any adult).

KinderGARTENER

Anonymous wrote:This is the op the caregiver is going to be dealt with separately. I think all adults involved need to ensure the safety of a 5 yo child. And where did I blame the school? 18:32 are you a bus driver?

Its implied in your thread title.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/info/enroll/KindergartenHandbook.pdf on page 6 it says bus driver to return the child to school

This is says you should instruct your child to not get off if you are not there..not that the bus driver needs to account for the parents being present.

This is the op the caregiver is going to be dealt with separately. I think all adults involved need to ensure the safety of a 5 yo child. And where did I blame the school? 18:32 are you a bus driver?

Anonymous wrote:

To your caregiver, yes. Half a block isn't a big deal. But I'm surprised they let the kid off the bus if there was no one there.

If there were other parents or babysitters, it might not have been evident to the bus driver that your kid was alone.

I sometimes pickup our neighbor's kid from the bus-stop. The driver has no idea which kid is with with adult.

Also, sometimes parents are too casual about their kids being picked up. I have always waited for other parents to show up at the bus-stop and there are some who come late habitually, knowing that I am waiting at the bus-stop.

I have also seen other parents just drive away with their own kids, not bothering to wait if some kids are left at the busstop without any adults.

Anonymous wrote:Step 1: fire the caregiver
Step 2: hire a reliable caregiver

This
But instead she wants to blame the school or bus driver.

Step 1: fire the caregiver
Step 2: hire a reliable caregiver

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/info/enroll/KindergartenHandbook.pdf on page 6 it says bus driver to return the child to school

Just looked at the mcps website for bus riding rules. No mention of kindergartners..just says it is recommended that children are met at the bus stop.

I don't know of any mcps po!icy about not leaving k kids at the bus stop.. Is ths driver supposed to have an approved list for each kid?