Anonymous
Post 09/17/2014 14:21     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
On the first day of school, my kindergartener got on the wrong bus home (she takes a different bus in the afternoon that the morning and got on the morning bus). I obviously wasn't there to meet her at the stop and the bus driver walked my daughter to the door twice to ring the doorbell before returning her to school, where I finally tracked her down.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2014 12:40     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Anonymous wrote:Well we could be like Worcester... Policy is kindergarteners have to be matched up with parents when getting off the bus. This has to be done before other kids can get off. Parents got mad and unruly it was taking too long so bus driver called dispatch who said to close doors and wait for cops. Parents and caregivers stormed bus with one caregiver punching the bus driver.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/09/05/worcester-school-bus-driver-allegedly-punched-face-after-refusing-let-kids-off/b4bpITum5pY3fhxByKAlDP/story.html


winner!
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2014 12:24     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Well we could be like Worcester... Policy is kindergarteners have to be matched up with parents when getting off the bus. This has to be done before other kids can get off. Parents got mad and unruly it was taking too long so bus driver called dispatch who said to close doors and wait for cops. Parents and caregivers stormed bus with one caregiver punching the bus driver.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/09/05/worcester-school-bus-driver-allegedly-punched-face-after-refusing-let-kids-off/b4bpITum5pY3fhxByKAlDP/story.html
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2014 12:06     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Anonymous wrote:Beofre I read this post I had no idea there was a policy. The school did not communicate it (and I guess I never read p 6 of the K handbook which I agree doesn't really say that the bus driver is responsible for determining who is meeting who). Seems like the drivers need a sign off sheets for the Kers on the bus that the parents would need to sign like in daycare.


I know that special ed kids have to be met by their specific caregiver and changes have to be made in writing. Perhaps all Kers should be placed in the same category. That is the only way I can see this working.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2014 11:35     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Beofre I read this post I had no idea there was a policy. The school did not communicate it (and I guess I never read p 6 of the K handbook which I agree doesn't really say that the bus driver is responsible for determining who is meeting who). Seems like the drivers need a sign off sheets for the Kers on the bus that the parents would need to sign like in daycare.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2014 11:16     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Anonymous wrote:I have been at the bus stop for many years and I have never seen the driver make any attempt to keep track of who is being met by whom. I could imagine if a child expressed concern over his/her parent not being there, the bus driver might respond to it though. I guess I really don't have enough faith in the system to trust that this would happen regardless of the stated policy. I have exchanged numbers with all the other parents at the stop. We handle occaissional problems ourselves.


While I agree you should have contacts with the parents, for K students the bus drivers MUST be accountable. If you see a K student get off the bus without a parent/caregiver in sight, you report your bus driver. You don't just shrug it off or make it your problem and walk them home. It is doing a disservice and letting the bus driver be even more of a slacker.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2014 06:17     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
I have been at the bus stop for many years and I have never seen the driver make any attempt to keep track of who is being met by whom. I could imagine if a child expressed concern over his/her parent not being there, the bus driver might respond to it though. I guess I really don't have enough faith in the system to trust that this would happen regardless of the stated policy. I have exchanged numbers with all the other parents at the stop. We handle occaissional problems ourselves.
Anonymous
Post 09/17/2014 06:02     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Is this typical practice in Egypt (or Greece)?

JK

Our ES said that if there was no one to meet the K, the bus takes them back to school. Our bus driver won't even let neighbors approach the kids.

Anonymous wrote:I have. k student and an much older MCpS student, and I can assure you that they let kids off Thebes unaccompanied all the time. I asked specifically at orientation last spring (our school had a rep from the bus depot there) and I was told that it is policy that the kids CAN be left solo.

Even worse the guy said that the reason for the policy was 'the latchkey kids who live in apartment buildings.' There aren't a lot of apartment buildings zoned for our school, so my impression was that the bus depot guy was trying to blame the policy on low income parents. Obnoxious.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2014 15:16     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Last year my kindergartener accidentally took the bus home instead of going to aftercare at the school. Bus driver let her get off the bus and she was found wandering around our neighborhood. I do not know what possessed my child to take the bus. But it was certainly an all systems fail for mcps.


Sounds like a fail for your child - taking a different way home and then not even going home.


She was five.


Yay seriously PP. The child was 5. It was not the child's fault. Geez.


Typical MCPS defender -- blame a 5 year old for getting on the wrong bus. People are crazy.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2014 15:09     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Last year my kindergartener accidentally took the bus home instead of going to aftercare at the school. Bus driver let her get off the bus and she was found wandering around our neighborhood. I do not know what possessed my child to take the bus. But it was certainly an all systems fail for mcps.


Sounds like a fail for your child - taking a different way home and then not even going home.


She was five.


Yay seriously PP. The child was 5. It was not the child's fault. Geez.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2014 15:08     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
K is absolutely not allowed to be let off the bus without a parent. It was told to us at orientation and our bus driver is awesome at it. They will bring the child back to the school and the office will call. No ifs ands or buts.

And your caregiver sucks.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2014 13:23     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Last year my kindergartener accidentally took the bus home instead of going to aftercare at the school. Bus driver let her get off the bus and she was found wandering around our neighborhood. I do not know what possessed my child to take the bus. But it was certainly an all systems fail for mcps.


Sounds like a fail for your child - taking a different way home and then not even going home.


She was five.


and I have no idea if she went home or not - no one was there. We were at work
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2014 13:22     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Last year my kindergartener accidentally took the bus home instead of going to aftercare at the school. Bus driver let her get off the bus and she was found wandering around our neighborhood. I do not know what possessed my child to take the bus. But it was certainly an all systems fail for mcps.


Sounds like a fail for your child - taking a different way home and then not even going home.


She was five.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2014 13:18     Subject: Re:Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wow. In our district, not only does the bus driver drive them back to school, but the school calls each parent who misses the bus. (We've had a few calls like that). Sometimes we tell them we'll be at the next stop and pick them up there. Other times we go to the school.


This should not have happened more than once.


If the school is calling to say that your child has been returned to school, why would you ever go to the next stop? I assume you have to pick up at the school. The bus driver is already late because s/he had to circle back to the school.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2014 13:12     Subject: Kinder allowed off the bus no adult to meet him
My almost three year old can walk half a block away by herself. SURELY a four or five year old can do it too.

If it's part of the caregiver's job then yell at them but I wouldn't bother the school or bus drivers.