Inconsiderate drivers and kids who walk to school

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

Rosalie B. wrote:

I would definitely NOT wanted to have bus
duty whether you had sympathy for me or not.

But this *IS* an elementary school, and all those jobs
(lunch, recess, pickup/dropoff, etc.) *are* part of the job
description, *and* the teachers have other time built in for
planning periods. That's just the way it is here, and they
have worked it out with the teachers' union and in their
contracts, so I don't see any reason for them not to do this
seeing as they *are* responsible for the safety of those
areas. There are more than 50 teachers and staff available
to rotate through these positions, so it's not like everyone
is doing every job every day.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Caledonia wrote:

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).

We have lists of school supplies they're supposed to
show up with, but you can get your school supplies wherever
you like.

Best wishes,
Ericka

In article ,
Ericka Kammerer wrote:

Caledonia wrote:

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).

We have lists of school supplies they're supposed to
show up with, but you can get your school supplies wherever
you like.

Best wishes,
Ericka


The point is that when WE were kids, we weren't expected to provide so
much in the line of school supplies -- the SCHOOL supplied much of it.
So seeing someone buying LOTS of paper and pencils and pens and markers
and crayons and -- well, $70 worth of stuff -- the assumption was that
they must be in a private school.

I have to say, I was pretty surprised when I started having to spend so
MUCH money on school supplies when the kids were in elementary school.
When I was in elementary school, all my folks got us was a pencil box
and some pencils! No back pack, no binders, heck, I don't even remember
getting lots of paper (though we always had some in the house).
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

"dragonlady" wrote in message
...
The point is that when WE were kids, we weren't expected to provide so
much in the line of school supplies -- the SCHOOL supplied much of it.
So seeing someone buying LOTS of paper and pencils and pens and markers
and crayons and -- well, $70 worth of stuff -- the assumption was that
they must be in a private school.


Wow, I'm surprised. We get a list of what we need to buy for our kids school
supplies. I think that my 4th graders supplies cost me about $5 this year.
One pack of pencils, one pack of pencil top erasers, a 5 subject notebook, a
pack of index cards, a box of colored pencils and 9 2 pocket folders. Oh,
and the list said something like "if you choose not to purchase these
supplies, they will be supplied by the school".

Jeanne wrote:
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.

School busses have no seat belts. They used to be designed so that a
fairly slow front impact will result in the gas tank exploding. I
don't know if that has been fixed or not, but there is a book about a
schoolbus tragedy that caused the death of quite a few children because
of the design flaw. The mfr. at the time (Ford) refused to correct the
flaw, and the government upheld their deciasion to do so.


snip

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.

Polly Klass, Jacob Wetterling, Stephen Stayner, ....The list goes on
and on. My best friend's daughter almost got snatched two doors down
from their house in broad daylight, by a woman (Tulsa, OK). Luckily my
friend stepped outside right in time to see the woman put her arm
around M. and start to guide her to the car. The woman jumped in the
car and sped off.

Don't kid yourself that it can't happen in your hometown.

-L.

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

dragonlady wrote:

In article ,
Ericka Kammerer wrote:

Caledonia wrote:

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).

We have lists of school supplies they're supposed to
show up with, but you can get your school supplies wherever
you like.

Best wishes,
Ericka

The point is that when WE were kids, we weren't expected to provide so
much in the line of school supplies -- the SCHOOL supplied much of it.
So seeing someone buying LOTS of paper and pencils and pens and markers
and crayons and -- well, $70 worth of stuff -- the assumption was that
they must be in a private school.

I have to say, I was pretty surprised when I started having to spend so
MUCH money on school supplies when the kids were in elementary school.
When I was in elementary school, all my folks got us was a pencil box
and some pencils! No back pack, no binders, heck, I don't even remember
getting lots of paper (though we always had some in the house).

We had to buy a fountain pen and ink. (A real fountain pen that you
stick it into the ink bottle to fill it) I did have pencils and also
a little pencil sharpener, and a gum eraser.-- and I think maybe a
protractor and probably a ruler. I know we must have had paper for
projects, and in high school I had to buy a composition book for
geometry class to write my proofs in. And it was graded.

Incidentally I just went to my 50th HS reunion and I was quite
surprised that so many people remembered me. One lady looked at me in
amazement and said "You don't dye your hair". Which is true, but I
was surprised that she would say it.

grandma Rosalie

In article ,
"Tracey" wrote:

"dragonlady" wrote in message
...
The point is that when WE were kids, we weren't expected to provide so
much in the line of school supplies -- the SCHOOL supplied much of it.
So seeing someone buying LOTS of paper and pencils and pens and markers
and crayons and -- well, $70 worth of stuff -- the assumption was that
they must be in a private school.


Wow, I'm surprised. We get a list of what we need to buy for our kids school
supplies. I think that my 4th graders supplies cost me about $5 this year.
One pack of pencils, one pack of pencil top erasers, a 5 subject notebook, a
pack of index cards, a box of colored pencils and 9 2 pocket folders. Oh,
and the list said something like "if you choose not to purchase these
supplies, they will be supplied by the school".


My lists in elementary school were pretty dramatic, and included
classroom supplies, like kleenex. By the time they got to middle
school, each teacher had a different list, and by high school -- well, I
almost lost it, I think, when I realized that the calculator required
for the higher math classes cost over $100.

I'm not sure the school CAN supply these items, though it is my
understanding that some schools do.

One of the things the church I used to work for did every year was
purchase a bunch of decent backpacks, and people donated supplies so we
could fill them with the sorts of things that are generally required.
The kids would spend one Sunday morning sorting the donated supplies,
and filling the backpacks. They were then donated to a local shelter,
so the kids there would be able to start school with supplies.

(Of course, with three in college, the supply costs have started to make
the high school list look petty . . . I've got one taking pottery, and
the clay and supplies were pretty high, two in advanced math classes
that required specific calculators (and the timeing is such that they
can't share one) and the amount of ink our printer goes through is
pretty dramatic!
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

-L. wrote:
Jeanne wrote:

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.


School busses have no seat belts. They used to be designed so that a
fairly slow front impact will result in the gas tank exploding. I
don't know if that has been fixed or not, but there is a book about a
schoolbus tragedy that caused the death of quite a few children because
of the design flaw. The mfr. at the time (Ford) refused to correct the
flaw, and the government upheld their deciasion to do so.

Thank you for writing it that way, to make it
seem like Ford designed the bus so it would
explode. I got a needed chuckle.


snip

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.


Polly Klass, Jacob Wetterling, Stephen Stayner, ....The list goes on
and on. My best friend's daughter almost got snatched two doors down
from their house in broad daylight, by a woman (Tulsa, OK). Luckily my
friend stepped outside right in time to see the woman put her arm
around M. and start to guide her to the car. The woman jumped in the
car and sped off.

Don't kid yourself that it can't happen in your hometown.

Perhaps I should list all the kids who have succesfully walked
to school for 12 entire years. I suspect my list would be much
longer than any list of abducted children. It would include
my sister's neighbor's children, who walked to school for
12 years without incident!! (So did I!)

Then perhaps we should list children who are killed in automobile
accidents each year. Then those who are killed in fires caused
by cigarettes. Then those who are killed by lightning. The
numbers in each category exceed those abducted by strangers.

Oddly, there is little push to keep children out of cars. Or
to punish those who smoke in homes. Lightning abatment programs,
also, are exceedingly rare.

It's a curious thing.


Scott