Anonymous wrote:
OT: 18, I can see - but there's no way a 21 yo should be in high school. Cut him/her loose.

In the perfect world, I agree. But this is DC and there are a lot of complications.

As a city we have done a disservice to our children for years. If there is a 21 YO who is trying to get a High School diploma and through this may have a chance of ending a cycle of poverty, don't you want that child in the school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a fleet of busses. So in other words, if one bus is not available then DCPS has built in their reserves. There are plenty of busses in use on a daily activity run.

I do believe the free metrobus service for next year is only for high-school students. If not mistaken there's also a low-income requirement too.

That is incorrect. Every DC student will ride for free (all ages, income, charter and DCPS), this will cost $3M. They will allow students 18-21 that are still in high school to ride for free as well.

http://m.washingtonpost.com/local/education/all-dc-students-to-ride-metro-buses-for-free/2013/06/28/6804cbc8-df6d-11e2-b2d4-ea6d8f477a01_story.html?wpisrc=nl_buzz

OT: 18, I can see - but there's no way a 21 yo should be in high school. Cut him/her loose.

Anonymous wrote:It is a fleet of busses. So in other words, if one bus is not available then DCPS has built in their reserves. There are plenty of busses in use on a daily activity run.

I do believe the free metrobus service for next year is only for high-school students. If not mistaken there's also a low-income requirement too.

That is incorrect. Every DC student will ride for free (all ages, income, charter and DCPS), this will cost $3M. They will allow students 18-21 that are still in high school to ride for free as well.

http://m.washingtonpost.com/local/education/all-dc-students-to-ride-metro-buses-for-free/2013/06/28/6804cbc8-df6d-11e2-b2d4-ea6d8f477a01_story.html?wpisrc=nl_buzz

Anonymous wrote:It is a fleet of busses. So in other words, if one bus is not available then DCPS has built in their reserves. There are plenty of busses in use on a daily activity run.

I do believe the free metrobus service for next year is only for high-school students. If not mistaken there's also a low-income requirement too.

The majority of those buses sit idle for most of the year. It's a huge waste of taxpayer dollars if they aren't being put to better use.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS is offering free metro bus service for all kids.

Rich people don't bus. Sounds like the OP is a confused spoiled rich person.

Kindergartners don't bus. Not alone.

I'm as middle-class as they come, love the bus and the metro and my own two feet, but I drive my kid (and a neighbor kid) to our charter, because they're too little to be turned loose in the city. Is this hard to understand? Really??

But that's a big jump from kindergarteners don't bus alone to we don't bus. I bus with my kindergartner. Problem solved.

And I bus with my preschooler. Not having little ones take the bus alone is not the same thing as not having them bus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason that these posts seem mean is because of the entitlement of the OP. If OP had come on and asked, "Does anyone have any suggestions about how to handle transportation?" the response would have been much different. She didn't do that. She was appalled that it wasn't taken care of for her. It clearly hadn't played any role at all in her decision making process. Moreover, she dismissed any possibility that she actually be involved in the transportation, one way or the other, car or public transportation. She sounds like a spoiled brat.

Oh, please.

She said, " I clearly wasn't too with it about this. So now I'm scrambling trying to figure this out come August. What do people do?"

Calling her a spoiled brat is complete overkill.

NP, OP also said, "I was stricken dumbfounded to hear that the city doesn't provide busing service to school"

That tells me that OP is a little entitled and/or ingnorant. It is clear that the city cannot bus kids to every different and new charter that sprouts up around the city. To the PP that says you don't want to send your kid to a school that is failing, that is your choice. Many inner city schools are failing, what do you want vouchers and a personal driver for you to send your kid to a private school?

This happens in Detroit, New Orleans, LA, Chicago, and NYC. If the parents don't want to send their kids to failing school in the neighborhood they live in, then they do what it takes to send them to a better school. Whether it means moving, sleeping overnight for lottery application, having their kid take 2 metros, 2 buses and walking etc. As mentioned already, the city now provides free city bus service for DC students. I think that is more than anyone can ask for.

You certainly can't think that the city will foot the cost to send your LO to every OOB DCPS and Charter in the city.

This is not just the case in the above-named cities, it's also the model used by Fairfax County. Each school has a designated boundary. If families live within one mile of the school, they are considered "walkers," though there are some who request a spot on a bus route if one is available (kindergartners may have a different set of rules). Anyone in the boundary outside of that 1 mile radius is given a bus route and a designated stop. However, this only applies if you attend your base school--the school assigned to your address. If you opt for another school (much less frequent in FCPS, but still happens on occasion), you forfeit that automatic transportation.

Of course, this does not apply to special ed. students who go to specialized programs outside of their school boundary, or to kids who are admitted to a GT/AAP centers that may be in a different school--they still get the transportation to their assigned school, because it's the school system that made the change in placement, not a parent request. FCPS does not provide transportation to schools outside of the public system, again--unless they are private special ed. placements.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS is offering free metro bus service for all kids.

Rich people don't bus. Sounds like the OP is a confused spoiled rich person.

Kindergartners don't bus. Not alone.

I'm as middle-class as they come, love the bus and the metro and my own two feet, but I drive my kid (and a neighbor kid) to our charter, because they're too little to be turned loose in the city. Is this hard to understand? Really??

But that's a big jump from kindergarteners don't bus alone to we don't bus. I bus with my kindergartner. Problem solved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS is offering free metro bus service for all kids.

Rich people don't bus. Sounds like the OP is a confused spoiled rich person.

Kindergartners don't bus. Not alone.

I'm as middle-class as they come, love the bus and the metro and my own two feet, but I drive my kid (and a neighbor kid) to our charter, because they're too little to be turned loose in the city. Is this hard to understand? Really??

It is a fleet of busses. So in other words, if one bus is not available then DCPS has built in their reserves. There are plenty of busses in use on a daily activity run.

I do believe the free metrobus service for next year is only for high-school students. If not mistaken there's also a low-income requirement too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS has a huge fleet of school buses that just sits idle. What's up with that?

Not enough buses and drivers for 40k kids across the city to hundred charters.

So how does it make sense to just have all those buses just sitting there doing absolutely nothing all year? Seems like a waste of money to me.

Well, they do all the special ed student transportation, don't they? I always see a bunch of DCPS buses and OSSE vans dropping off kids at our charter school. They also do field trips and move the athletic teams to offsite practices and games. I'm sure there's plenty of waste, no doubt, but they're not doing absolutely nothing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS has a huge fleet of school buses that just sits idle. What's up with that?

Not enough buses and drivers for 40k kids across the city to hundred charters.

So how does it make sense to just have all those buses just sitting there doing absolutely nothing all year? Seems like a waste of money to me.

Anonymous wrote:If you attend a charter school, you should demand that they provide transportation, not the city.

Why? Charters don't get funding to provide transportation.

Anonymous wrote:DCPS is offering free metro bus service for all kids.

Rich people don't bus. Sounds like the OP is a confused spoiled rich person.

DCPS is offering free metro bus service for all kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you not research transportation when looking at and applying to schools?

www.wmata.com
or call the school

google the address and click "directions"....driving, walking, and public transportation

You don't even need google.

Both DCPS and charter school board websites have search functions based on ward number or map.

The website http://www.greatschools.org/ has all schools, including private. Public libraries and community-based organizations have hard copies of this database in English and Spanish with metro and bus lines.

And then there's the "contact us" function somewhere near the "apply now" section of every charter school.

OP, bear in mind that many charter schools are in temporary locations and could move very far from their current locations in 2-3 years.