Tuesday was the first day of school. Last year the bus ran between 7:45-8:00. Tuesday she came at 7:42 and Meadow missed the bus. She called, I turned around and took her to school. I also informed the school what happened.

I wrote the bus driver a sweet letter and asked her to let me know what time she'd be coming each morning so Meadow could be waiting. I also asked her to blow the horn coming down our road to alert Meadow and to actually stop in front of our house and not just drive by. I made copies and stapled one to the bus rules we had to sign.

Wednesday the second day of school she goes out at 7:40, the girl up the street missed the bus because she was coming earlier so she came to our house and caught the bus.

So, Thursday the third day of school we were sending Meadow out at 7:35-just in case. Low and behold the woman came at 7:32. Really?

So I called the school. The principal said not to worry, she was going to personally go and pick Meadow up for school. She also assured me that was going to call the school bus garage and give me the exact time that her bus would be running give or take 5 minutes. Not 30.

I had Sky hand the principal a copy of the letter I'd sent to the bus driver yesterday. The bus driver did blow the horn this morning-as she flew by our house. NO stopping. Really?

4 other kids on our route that we know of missed the bus this morning. I'll be so glad to see this resolved. I just hope that this driver doesn't decide to take anything out on Meadow because of this. I'm prepared. Grrrr I'm getting ready to start RN school and me coming home to take her to school is going to impossible. I'm sure the principal giving Meadow a personalized ride to school every morning will get old quick so I imagine the situation will be rectified. I just cannot imagine why someone would be this way.

When I was young my sister and I caught the bus alone every morning. Ms. Trent would stop and blow the horn for us! Us getting to school was more important than being late. I'm not asking for the lady to show Meadow special attention, just to let us know what time to be outside waiting.

The year has just begun! One of the joys of ps no doubt.

_________________
“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
― Mother Teresa

I would be concerned about the driver on this route. There should be some kind of recourse for parents, the driver just cant show up at school with no students and claim they were not out waiting. I know it may be a waste of your time, but I'd send a note to all parents on the bus route and then show up at school all at once complaining about said driver. That would get their attention. Find another driver OR fix the problem. I do believe I am turning into a community organizer, he, he. I just hate to see slackers getting away with their bad behavior or passing the buck to someone else all the time.

_________________
"...with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

I remember back in my bus riding days that this oftened happened when a new driver was starting and wasn't familiar with the route. Sometimes they'd miss a house or two, sometimes they'd be early or late and mess everyone up. They are often worried about not getting to school on time, do their job "by the book." With a few phone calls and some practice, they got to where they were very predictable, or knew it was better to stop and wait, then to keep a tight schedule. Then when the snow started falling, things became a bit bumpy until they could predict how much time it would usually take with snowy, icy roads, and drifts.

I'm sure things will get better. You have done a fine job of approaching things calmly and appropriately. Having the principal in the mix will probably solve issues a bit faster than if they were not inconvenienced as well.

I would be mad, too! My experience with bus drivers was if they got to a bus stop early, they pulled over and waited until the kids got there. There is no reason for them to be flying past your house when they're early and they know there's a kid that needs to get on. What are they thinking? Hopefully it gets resolved quickly!

_________________
Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).

My nephew had this problem last year. The driver just didnt' care of people got on the bus or not. The JOB is to pick up the students, so it makes no sence to me that they'd keep driving when they are obviously too early and no one is out yet.
When this driver left my nephew one morning too many.. it was pouring rain, and he was standing under their carport waiting for the bus. She did slow down... but then kept on rolling and pulled off. He was literally running to catch the bus but she didnt' give him time! They live RIGHT ON the road too, so not a long way for him to go.
Well, the next morning my niece was waiting for her. She got on that bus and really let the driver have it. She got into trouble at school because they had her on video tape, but she went to the pricipal herself and told them that they fail a student if they are late so many days, yet he's there trying to catch the bus and had been left too many times for her to not say something. She told him that the driver actually has to STOP the bus, that they can't just run and jump on like it's a street car in SF, lol!
Problem solved. The driver never left him again...

Pam I love your bright outlook. You are such a positive person! Sadly we've had the same bus driver for 3 years. Last year Meadow had 15 tardies. Yep, 15. She would come anywhere between 7:45-8:00 often times coming after 8. BUT late is better than early, at least the kids get on the bus.

Anyhoo this is why I'm taking the approach that I have. It's also why the principal herself is coming to get my daughter. I wish I had handled things appropriately last year instead of letting it slide. I do not like confrontation but I'm learning that at times it's absolutely necessary.

Briva-how would I go about getting the parents of our bus routes information to send a letter to? I know the few I mentioned personally.

(Since this is public I edited out that extra tid bit of info that was here.)

_________________
“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
― Mother Teresa

Wow, so much for giving the benefit of the doubt. Three years is a bad track record for sure. I guess getting as much other parent input is a great idea, so you have facts to take before the principal, superintendent, school board or as far as it needs to go to get things put to right.

Well right now this bus driver has left so many kids this week that I believe she has been talked to. She apologized to Meadow and promised to come to a full stop in front of our house and blow the horn from now on. We shall see how tomorrow goes. I have to leave home a full hour earlier in the morning to get to school on time myself. Hopefully this done it.

_________________
“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
― Mother Teresa

Do you have a plan in place for your dd for "if" she misses the bus on those days when you are at school yourself?
(Hopefully the problem is solved but still.. the driver has a bad track record!)

Not to change the subject, but a few years ago this school district had a bus driver that made the wrong turn and ran into a house on the corner, She was fired.
praying this one wakes up and gets her act to gether or they find someone to take her place.

_________________
<a href="http://lilyslim.com/"><img src="http://swtc.lilyslim.com/G2dWbbw.png" width="400" height="120" border="0" alt="LilySlim Weight charts" /></a>