Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm astonished by some of the vitriol here. I've never been late to the bus stop to pick up my kid, but I've seen it happen, and the parents it happens to are good parents. Shit happens. I didn't think elementary buses were supposed to release kids without a caregiver present. It doesn't seem like a good idea to me. What if the parent had had a heart attack, and the kid lived across a busy intersection?

I don't know where you guys that have four neighbors you could depend on in an emergency live, but that is not OUR situation.

You really think elementary school kids should be given from bus driver directly to parent? How much hand-holding does your kid require? By the time my kid was in 4th grade I had her taking mass transit to and home from school. I got her a cell phone so she could call me in the morning when she got to school. Kids are capable of a lot more than they're being allowed to do.

This was a 5 year old.

You need to work on both being there for your kid and teaching him what to do if you aren't. Parent fail!

Anonymous wrote:OP, if this is Montgomery County you should complain. Their policy is that kindergartners are NOT let off the bus without an adult present. Not sure about other systems.

Read the other thread - this is incorrect. The MoCo school bus depot people told me that they cannot mandate drivers confirm that every kid who steps off the bus has been met by their proper caregivers or by any caregivers. In theory a child is supposed to stay on the bus and go back to the school if there is an adult to meet them but that depends on whether your child realizes that there is no adult there when they get off the bus (mine bolts for home and wouldn't even notice if I was missing.) I totally understand why you are upset; this happened to me once with my older child. But you need to be realistic about what the policy is and how it will be implemented - and once you realize this it will make you damn certain to be home on time in the future. (And go over a backup plan with your child in case of an emergency: mine is to go to X & Y neighbors' homes and if there is no one there, to wait in our backyard.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm astonished by some of the vitriol here. I've never been late to the bus stop to pick up my kid, but I've seen it happen, and the parents it happens to are good parents. Shit happens. I didn't think elementary buses were supposed to release kids without a caregiver present. It doesn't seem like a good idea to me. What if the parent had had a heart attack, and the kid lived across a busy intersection?

I don't know where you guys that have four neighbors you could depend on in an emergency live, but that is not OUR situation.

You really think elementary school kids should be given from bus driver directly to parent? How much hand-holding does your kid require? By the time my kid was in 4th grade I had her taking mass transit to and home from school. I got her a cell phone so she could call me in the morning when she got to school. Kids are capable of a lot more than they're being allowed to do.

+ a million. This is not a national emergency. Teach your kid what to do if she expects you to be there and you're not. This obsessively protective parenting crap is getting out of control.

If the school's policy says that kids (of whatever age) won't be released except to a parent, then that policy should be followed.

That said, parents should discuss with child what to do if they're left off and not met, no one home, etc.

My kids walked 5 or 6 blocks to school in our CC Md neighborhood some years ago. Neither would have made today's cutoff age, and one was still 4 at this point in the school year. But they walked without a parent, and would have known what to do if I wasn't home, which I'm pretty sure I always was.

"I was running late" in OP's post sounds pretty lame. But I also don't get that parents aren't working to instill appropriate autonomy in kids, including at least some idea of what to do in a simple situation like "You get dropped off and Mom's not home."

At our FCPS school, all kindergartners have their backpacks tagged with yellow tape. This lets the bus driver know who is a kindergartner and thus requiring an adult pick-up. The adult comes to the door of the bus and then the child is released.

Two weeks ago, a child was returned and no one could get in touch with the parent. My principal and some of office staff were at school until 5:30pm when someone finally came. The principal said that if someone hadn't come by 5:30pm, her next move would have been to call the police.

Anonymous wrote:Oh my gosh- these are horrible, mean responses. Yes, absolutely be on time and be responsible, but unforeseen things can happen.

The school should not drop off a five year old alone.

Agree. Plus 1.

OP, I would be upset, too. Particularly when the policy is to take the child back for the school. I undertand that the parent should be there, but occasionally things go wrong. And to the teacher who thinks the school should have no responsibility - in loco parentis. It is a school responsibility to reasonably protect its students. Sorry to disappoint you.

Anonymous wrote:I'm astonished by some of the vitriol here. I've never been late to the bus stop to pick up my kid, but I've seen it happen, and the parents it happens to are good parents. Shit happens. I didn't think elementary buses were supposed to release kids without a caregiver present. It doesn't seem like a good idea to me. What if the parent had had a heart attack, and the kid lived across a busy intersection?

I don't know where you guys that have four neighbors you could depend on in an emergency live, but that is not OUR situation.

You really think elementary school kids should be given from bus driver directly to parent? How much hand-holding does your kid require? By the time my kid was in 4th grade I had her taking mass transit to and home from school. I got her a cell phone so she could call me in the morning when she got to school. Kids are capable of a lot more than they're being allowed to do.

I'm astonished by some of the vitriol here. I've never been late to the bus stop to pick up my kid, but I've seen it happen, and the parents it happens to are good parents. Shit happens. I didn't think elementary buses were supposed to release kids without a caregiver present. It doesn't seem like a good idea to me. What if the parent had had a heart attack, and the kid lived across a busy intersection?

I don't know where you guys that have four neighbors you could depend on in an emergency live, but that is not OUR situation.

Shit, by the time my kids were 3 they knew to go to one of FOUR different neighbors on our block in any sort of emergency.

I don't know why you haven't taught your 5 yr old what to do if nobody's home. Because "standing in the street and sobbing" is NOT on the list of things to do.

Anonymous wrote:What happens if no one picks up a child from school and it's 6 o'clock? Do they just set him free?

Not sure about schools but I have read a few summer day camps call CPS after 10 minutes for child abandonment

No the bus driver did. He's not a machine. He could have taken the child back to school. Hope you never ever make a mistake and are late picking up your kid. Also don't understand your hostility given your occupation. Strange.

Anonymous wrote:Our bus driver doesn't leave 5 year olds by themselves. They are returned to school and the parent is called.

My son rides the bus with his older sister. So we're good to go, as she's always with him in case one of us is running late.

I thought this was the case with all kindergartners.

Me too. One time, my child was placed on the wrong school bus and was unaccounted for until she was brought back by the bus driver to the school. Then they put her on the next run to our stop, but by that time, I was on en route to the school. I shutter to think of someone letting her off the bus, because they thought it was no longer their responsibility.

Frankly, I would rather the school bring a 5 year old back and then call parents and then police, if necessary. A kid shouldn't be left to suffer the consequences on the street.

Anonymous wrote:Wait a minute - as a teacher you don't sound like you care about our kids at all. No one is saying you are the parent or caregiver but would you just leave a child wandering like that? I wouldn't and I'm not someone who decided to go into child education.

YOU left the child wandering like that!