Inconsiderate drivers and kids who walk to school

My daughter walks or rides her scooter or bike to her elementary school
every day. Because the route goes on a footpath, it's only a quarter mile;
the route by motor vehicle is four times longer. The biggest problem right
now the kids walking is all the other parents who drive. She only has one
street to cross, and of course there's crossing guards, but the parents
still do not seem to respect the pedestrians in the vicinity.

Someone alerted me to this website: http://drivetoschoolhallofshame.com/
that has photographs from a different school, of all the chaos caused by
parents who are driving their kids to school. What is this craziness? WIWAK,
the only time you got a ride from school was when you were sick or
something.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
...

Someone alerted me to this website: http://drivetoschoolhallofshame.com/
that has photographs from a different school, of all the chaos caused by
parents who are driving their kids to school. What is this craziness?
WIWAK,
the only time you got a ride from school was when you were sick or
something.

Our town has a *huge* problem with this. It's become a very serious safety
issue. Not only do they not walk if outside the bus radius, but the busses
are practically empty because so many parents drive their kids to school.

JennP.

JennP wrote:
"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
...


Someone alerted me to this website: http://drivetoschoolhallofshame.com/
that has photographs from a different school, of all the chaos caused by
parents who are driving their kids to school. What is this craziness?

WIWAK,

the only time you got a ride from school was when you were sick or
something.


Our town has a *huge* problem with this. It's become a very serious safety
issue. Not only do they not walk if outside the bus radius, but the busses
are practically empty because so many parents drive their kids to school.

JennP.




Our neighborhood also has a big problem with this. Lots of buses are
half-filled. The other pet peeve of mine is that many of these parents
are working parents so they are often in a rush, hence the unsafe speeds
and rudeness. It's pretty much a madhouse.

I think, for some reason, people think it's unsafe for children to be
riding the bus or walking so they end up chauffeuring their children to
school. I'm not talking about working parents who drop off their
children at the school's before-care or students whose neighborhoods
lack sidewalks - these are cases where parents need to drive their children.

Our neighbor refuses to let their daughter stand at the bus stop for 5
minutes (usually two moms are there as well) because they think random
strangers will note the presence of the children and try something.
Instead they take their daughter to before-school care at a local
daycare for 5-10 minutes and let them take the girl to school. It's
certainly their choice and if it makes them feel better, it's a valid
solution but I wonder what makes them feel the neighborhood is so
unsafe? It's your typical middle/upper-middle class suburban
neighborhood with sidewalks, with a low crime rate, never a kidnapping, etc.

Jeanne wrote:

I think, for some reason, people think it's unsafe for children to be
riding the bus or walking so they end up chauffeuring their children to
school. I'm not talking about working parents who drop off their
children at the school's before-care or students whose neighborhoods
lack sidewalks - these are cases where parents need to drive their children.

The deal here, where our buses are half-filled, is that you have to pay
$225/child for a bus pass for bus stops within 2 miles of the school
for K-5, and $225/child for a bus pass for 6-12, regardless of distance
from the school. For a lot of folks, that $225 (or $550, or higher)
works out to make driving a more economical choice, especially if they
live 2+ miles from school and have multiple children in grades 6-12.

There are no sidewalks here, and we're at 1.97 miles, so we pay for the
bus. I keep thinking that I'll start walking my DD (1st grader), but
realized that this would be 8 miles/day with her younger sibling in a
stroller, and it wouldn't be do-able in the winter (the stroller, that
is). So for now she's a schoolbus rider. If I had multiple children in
the elementary grades, though, it'd require some hard thought about the
cost of the bus, the hassle of walking, and the financial outlay.

Out of curiousity, are public school busses 'free' (included in the
cost of the school versus paid for like an activity) there?

Caledonia

Caledonia wrote:

Out of curiousity, are public school busses 'free' (included in the
cost of the school versus paid for like an activity) there?

Bus transportation is provided at no cost here
(Virginia). We actually live within walking distance,
but have a bus stop due to traffic flow issues. My
kids ride the bus, though we'll sometimes walk if it's
nice out. They're old enough to go to the bus stop
by themselves, but frankly, the bus stop is a nice
way to touch base with the other parents, so I drop
by on occasion just to say hi. They're last on/first
off, so they have a rather short bus ride. I only
do pick up/drop off if I need to do that in order to
make an appointment, but we have a nice kiss'n'ride
loop that is well patrolled. There are still the
occasional people who won't get off their cell phones
in line, but they run a pretty tight ship in general.
I'm still debating if I'm going to drive on band days.
It depends on how heavy and awkward DS1's instruments
are for schlepping on and off the bus. If they're
doing chess club, I'll have to pick up on Wednesdays
anyway, and I'll have to be dressed and moving in the
morning anyway to get DD to dance, so it won't be
much skin off my nose to drive if it spares him from
arriving black and blue ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:28:57 EDT, "Caledonia"
wrote:

Out of curiousity, are public school busses 'free' (included in the
cost of the school versus paid for like an activity) there?

They are paid for from the general budget (taxes) for the four
publicly-funded systems of school boards in Ontario, Canada. (English
and French for each of Roman Catholic and secular)

Louise

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:28:57 EDT, "Caledonia"
wrote:

[...]

The deal here, where our buses are half-filled, is that you have to pay
$225/child for a bus pass for bus stops within 2 miles of the school
for K-5, and $225/child for a bus pass for 6-12, regardless of distance
from the school. For a lot of folks, that $225 (or $550, or higher)
works out to make driving a more economical choice, especially if they
live 2+ miles from school and have multiple children in grades 6-12.


[...]

Out of curiousity, are public school busses 'free' (included in the
cost of the school versus paid for like an activity) there?


I'm flabbergasted. I have never heard of fee-for-school bus before.

Here (suburban Indianapolis) there is no separate fee for school bus
service. In our previous residence (Rochester, NY) there also was no
fee. Moreover, in NY (but not in Indiana) the local school district
was also obligated to bus your kid even if she attended a private
school (within a certain distance).

Nick


--
Nick Theodorakis

contact form:
http://theodorakis.net/contact.html

Nick Theodorakis wrote:

I'm flabbergasted. I have never heard of fee-for-school bus before.

Here (suburban Indianapolis) there is no separate fee for school bus
service. In our previous residence (Rochester, NY) there also was no
fee. Moreover, in NY (but not in Indiana) the local school district
was also obligated to bus your kid even if she attended a private
school (within a certain distance).

It's a Commonwealth of Massachusetts thing; here's the summary:

Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 71, Secton 68 speaks to the minimum
public school transportation services required of Cities and Towns. To
summarize, the law requires public school districts to transport
students in Grades K-6 who live greater than 2.0 miles from school.
Chapter 71, Section 68 does not speak to walking safety considerations.
In the final analysis, it is the responsibility of the parent to get
students to and from school.

The fees are set by town, prices from my armchair analysis range from
$100-$300 per pupil per pass (for those kids 2 miles or = 7 grade).
Family caps, if they exist, are again set by the town.

I used to always believe that those parents shopping in Staples for
'school supplies' were sending their children to private schools, too.
Another illusion destroyed. (You *do* have public school supply lists,
right? Ours are down to providing the pencils and paper, ~ $70 for a
first-grader).

Caledonia

In article ,
(Nick Theodorakis) wrote:

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:28:57 EDT, "Caledonia"
wrote:

[...]

The deal here, where our buses are half-filled, is that you have to pay
$225/child for a bus pass for bus stops within 2 miles of the school
for K-5, and $225/child for a bus pass for 6-12, regardless of distance
from the school. For a lot of folks, that $225 (or $550, or higher)
works out to make driving a more economical choice, especially if they
live 2+ miles from school and have multiple children in grades 6-12.


[...]

Out of curiousity, are public school busses 'free' (included in the
cost of the school versus paid for like an activity) there?


I'm flabbergasted. I have never heard of fee-for-school bus before.

Yes -- it's pretty distressing, when you have to try to figure out where
the "break even" point is for paying for the school bus or driving your
kids every day.


Here (suburban Indianapolis) there is no separate fee for school bus
service. In our previous residence (Rochester, NY) there also was no
fee. Moreover, in NY (but not in Indiana) the local school district
was also obligated to bus your kid even if she attended a private
school (within a certain distance).

Nick
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

Caledonia wrote:


The deal here, where our buses are half-filled, is that you have to pay
$225/child for a bus pass for bus stops within 2 miles of the school
for K-5, and $225/child for a bus pass for 6-12, regardless of distance
from the school. For a lot of folks, that $225 (or $550, or higher)
works out to make driving a more economical choice, especially if they
live 2+ miles from school and have multiple children in grades 6-12.

There are no sidewalks here, and we're at 1.97 miles, so we pay for the
bus. I keep thinking that I'll start walking my DD (1st grader), but
realized that this would be 8 miles/day with her younger sibling in a
stroller, and it wouldn't be do-able in the winter (the stroller, that
is). So for now she's a schoolbus rider. If I had multiple children in
the elementary grades, though, it'd require some hard thought about the
cost of the bus, the hassle of walking, and the financial outlay.

Out of curiousity, are public school busses 'free' (included in the
cost of the school versus paid for like an activity) there?

Caledonia


Wow. I live in Maryland and public school bus rides are free - no bus
fee (yet).

Jeanne