Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All ECE classes at DCPS Title I schools who will be going on the field trip to Sharp’s Farm are required to travel on the charter buses with the 5 point safety restraints. This is not only a Head Start requirement, but a DC law. Please also note that Title I schools received this field trip free of charge. A portion of the DCPS Head Start grant was allocated to provide tickets to all ECE students at Title I schools for this trip.

Is this true? At my title 1 school, the teachers always ask for PTA funds for this field trip.

The DCPS ECE Division covered the cost of the trip to Sharp’s Farm for this school year only. Schools could either select to go on any date between September 15 and October 1 or October 15 through November 1. The ECE Division only covered the admission and ticket fees for schools going to Sharp’s Farm. If your child’s school decided to go to Cox Farm or some other venue, the school was responsible for covering the cost of admission for the students and staff.

The ECE Division covers the cost of transportation for two field trips per school year for each of the Title I schools. Each school has a designated charter bus vendor that they must use for these two Head Start funded trips and any other field trip.

Anonymous wrote:DCPS started requiring bus transportation for PK3 and PK4 to have 5-point harness seatbelts. If your child is in PK3 with DCPS, then the bus is likely a chartered bus with that type of seatbelt.

Not sure if it’s the same school as OP but my DCPS pk3’er went to the pumpkin patch this week and there were no seat belts or safety constraints. I was a chaperone and held my kid tight next to me the whole time. It also rained the whole way back (on 495), definitely wasn’t safe!

Last year DS (in K at the time) was in a bus accident. Icy conditions caused a car on the other side of the road to spin and tbone the bus. The bus driver lost temporary control and drove off the road. There were about 20 scared kids and the bus driver had a few bumps and bruises,but no injuries were had.

Had that been me driving DS home, one or both of us would likely have been seriously injured.

Anonymous wrote:All ECE classes at DCPS Title I schools who will be going on the field trip to Sharp’s Farm are required to travel on the charter buses with the 5 point safety restraints. This is not only a Head Start requirement, but a DC law. Please also note that Title I schools received this field trip free of charge. A portion of the DCPS Head Start grant was allocated to provide tickets to all ECE students at Title I schools for this trip.

Is this true? At my title 1 school, the teachers always ask for PTA funds for this field trip.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/school-bus-safety

School buses are, statistically speaking, the safest vehicles on the road. Your child is 70 times more likely to get to school safely riding the bus. Of all the kids that ride the bus to school in this country, only about 5 die annually, and they don't typically die in bus accidents, they die either walking to the bus or because they suffer a medical emergency on the bus.

It is somewhat absurd to assume that a child is safer getting somewhere in your car than on a bus. You might be able to make a comfort or familiarity argument, but there really isn't a safety argument to be made here.

and of course all the bus chaperones are TB tested (not sure about drivers) so your child is extra safe!