Auburn MA Public School Bus Fee - Update pg 13 #184

[It's A Happy Day]

What day does school start? What is your plan if you still don't have the bus passes?

School starts Tuesday and until this situation is resolved 1 way or the other I will be driving both of them. That is what I had to do last year for 4 weeks until it was resolved. Unfortunately the school system did/does not notify parents that they are not getting a pass at all so I did not find out until less than 1 week before school started and only then because another parent told me she got hers, not because the school notified us.

Tomorrow I am going to call the MA board of education to see what methods the town should be using to measure mileage. I too agree it is most likely NOT mapquest!

We were discussing this whole thing at work over the weekend and figured that the Town of Auburn MA Public School System is really just concerned with our health. We figured that by making the children walk to school - 2 miles to and 2 miles from then they can further cut physical education programs and get rid of more teachers because children will be getting enough exercise. Here is how my day would look:
Wake 5:30AM and get kids up and eat breakfast
Leave 6:30AM with kids to walk 2 miles to school, walk home alone
Leave 10:00AM to get DD at end of 1/2 day kindergarten - walk 2 miles
Arrive home again 12:30 with DD walking 2 miles
Leave 1:00-1:30 (not sure yet what time DS's day is over) to get to school in time for DS to be dismissed - again walking 2 miles with DD
Arrive home for the day around 4:00-4:30

Mileage totals: Me = 12 miles, DD5 = 8 miles, and DS6 gets it lucky with only = 4 miles x 5 days

 

[LadyBears]

Wow...I stand corrected. I know I am a bit of a language buff, but maybe (in addition to addressing the incredibly high cost of this transportation) someone could also address with your school district the fact that they are using the wrong terminology for the division of their school year (thus teaching the children incorrectly). The word "semester" is a Greek and Latin variant, which means "six months" or "one-half of the year" (seme= six, menstre= month). The term has been used in an educational setting as far back as the Greeks and Romans themselves. In those days, schooling was year-round (thus, the six month time frame). The term has been used to descibe "one half of the educational year" in countries where Romance languages are spoken countinuously ever since. The word semester is not a generic term for "part". I'm sorry, but educational administrators should know better.

Trust me, I am not offended, but thank you for teaching me as I never thought about the meaning of the word semester before. I looked at our towns school calendar. The wording they use is

"END OF TERMS
Elementary Trimesters: Nov. 27; Mar. 11​

End of term Middle School/High School: Nov 9; Jan 25; April 4"

So it was my misuse of the terminology, not the educational administrators. Sorry!!

On a side note, the good thing for me is I don't have to pay for bussing, regardless of the amount, because I don't live in that town!

 

[magiroux]

Aren't you guys called "taxachusetts"?

Isn't massachusetts also doing something now where they're denying you social security if you can't prove you have health insurance?

Maybe it's turning into "commiechusetts"?

Well, this month's proposal is to fine mortgage lenders who forclose on loans in default AND before they can force them to vacate the property said "private" mortgage companies would be required to pay movers to relocate wherever and the pay first two months rent to the person that just stiffed the mortagage company for probably thousands of dollars. So, I guess it would be a big to that too. Heck, I'm mid-forties and have never been able to afford to have movers

Our schools have our issues, here, too. We're trying our best to stop the corruption and bring transparency and accountability to education issues.

'tain't easy...

Nope, no school system is perfect, however it should be noted it is not the STATE imposing these fees. It is the school dept and local city council

 

[magiroux]

School starts Tuesday and until this situation is resolved 1 way or the other I will be driving both of them. That is what I had to do last year for 4 weeks until it was resolved. Unfortunately the school system did/does not notify parents that they are not getting a pass at all so I did not find out until less than 1 week before school started and only then because another parent told me she got hers, not because the school notified us.

Tomorrow I am going to call the MA board of education to see what methods the town should be using to measure mileage. I too agree it is most likely NOT mapquest!

Good Luck - let us know how you made out

 

[dudspizza]

I will admit I have not read all of the posts on this thread, so I apologize if my points have been made already.

All of the anger at the school district is misguided. They have a 2 mile rule, the same rule we have here in Minnesota. About 4 years ago we eliminated the rules that allowed kids between 1-2 miles OR had to cross a hazardous road to get busing. Now all kids under 2 miles, but over 1 mile have to pay for busing.

The upset should be at your governing leading of the state and federal govt. They are not adequately funding education. They are mandating all kinds of ways school districts have to spend their money and then they don't give the schools enough money.

In response, schools have to ask for local tax levy/bond money, which divides communities. People over 2 miles don't vote for the tax increase as they are not affected by the decision.

It all comes down to the state and fed govt doing their part to fund education. School districts have been put into a very tough spot and they are taking the brundt of the publics rath. It is kind of the way the schools around the US are right now.... not trusted by many people in the public and chastised for having to make the tough decisions.

Off my soap box now.

Duds

 

[2angelsinheaven]

The way it works here in Brevard County, Fl is that if they put a ruler on the map and your within the 2 miles, sorry, SOL. No opition to pay for a ride, unless this is new this year. Even though our house growing up was just under 2 miles done this way, it was more like 4 miles driving and certainly not roads I would want any kid to walk (too busy).

 

[Beca]

Trust me, I am not offended, but thank you for teaching me as I never thought about the meaning of the word semester before. I looked at our towns school calendar. The wording they use is

"END OF TERMS
Elementary Trimesters: Nov. 27; Mar. 11​

End of term Middle School/High School: Nov 9; Jan 25; April 4"

So it was my misuse of the terminology, not the educational administrators. Sorry!!

On a side note, the good thing for me is I don't have to pay for bussing, regardless of the amount, because I don't live in that town!

Oops!!! Well...now I feel really bad!! I never would've said anything if I had known it was you using the term and not your school. "Laymen" can use whatever term they want, but I think schools have a responsibility to use the correct term (or, why should the children use correct terms, grammar, etc.).

Sorry!!!

 

[WildGrits]

I just wanted to add. A little OT......................

Girlfriends kids got their shopping list in the mail.

It had TOILET PAPER on it.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I just wanted to add. A little OT......................

Girlfriends kids got their shopping list in the mail.

It had TOILET PAPER on it.

Oh my gosh! I thought mine was bad. It has cash on it! No kidding.

OP, good luck and keep us posted!

 

[chris1gill]

In our town if you do not attend the public school you go to the private and are driven- you get a $700 refund on your taxes!
I have never ever heard of such a thing?
Oh but I have heard that schools count that Mileage thing- as the crow flies! Meaning take that map and draw a straight line from the school to your house. That is the way they measure it even though there is no way you could drive that way.
Good luck and really that is nuts.
Oh and where we are they will not even LET the kids walk. One child lives across the street from the school. His mom works so he has to ride the bus. He is on it for 30 minutes!!

OMG, not only do we NOT get money back since our kids go to private, but we have to PAY 2K each to bus them to school!

Course we've just found out we're moving to Vermont and we've picked a town that has no bussing at all. All kids walk or ride their bikes... Least the kids will be in shape Now we have to decide when to move them, two weeks after school starts, at Christmas time, or I try to maintain things down here while my husband is up there through the school year..... Ugh..

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Last year we entered the public school system with DS6 (now entering 1st grade). The town of Auburn, MA imposed a $100 per student bus fee for any child who resides under 2 miles from the school. MA state law says any child 5th grade or lower and under 2 miles from the school, transportation does have to be provided. I'm not sure how long people have had to pay for public school bussing but this was our 1st encounter. Now I had physically pulled out of our driveway, set the odometer, and driven every direction, method, route possible to the school and the shortest route possible hits exactly 2 miles - other methods including the bus route was way more than 2. But mapquest has us at 1.9 miles and that is the mapping method they use. I had this arguement last year and the superintendant decided that we did meet the rules requirements and gave me the bus pass last year. I was assured at that time (unfortunately now not in writing!) that this would be taken care of while my son remained at that school and we remained at this address. So at the end of last school year, I mailed out the form for both children now (DD is starting kindergarten) and included the map showing us 2 miles from the school and stated on the form that this was taken care of this past year. A co-worker asked if I got my bus passes on Sat. and we did not. Monday, Tuesdays mail came - nothing. So I call the school superintendants office today and they say I will not get the pass unless I pay $200 After I made my arguement and showed up AT THE OFFICE with the map they have stated that they will talk to to "interim" superintendant (last years quit!) and "get back to me"

Thank you for letting me vent....

Is it possible that your odometer is wrong and MapQuest is right?
Odometers are not perfect, and I've seen some that have been off by as much as 10%. You say that you are right at two miles, so all it takes is your odometer to be off just a little for MapQuest to be right and you to be wrong.

The only way I can think of that you can use to prove your case would be to use Google Earth. The include a ruler tool that you can use to measure out a path. Perhaps you could use that to map the path from your house to school and use screen shots to prove your case (assuming you are indeed right).

 

[It's A Happy Day]

So the saga continues!

I have been in touch with the 2 local papers - they are both running articles about bussing and will be including my story. I know 1 will not specifically be about us but about bussing in general but they are including this in it. I have also been in touch with the state dept. of ed. and they have informed me the chain of command that I have to appeal to and we are in the process of that now. I have contacted the school committee and am awaiting the response. I know some people here are questioning why am I argueing over $200 - some pay more than that for 1 child and this is the cost for 2 for us. Basically I feel that by signing that check I am agreeing with what the town is claiming and I do not agree what-so-ever. I am not generally a public outcry, take action kind of person, so this is not really "in character" for me BUT and I am sure alot of mothers out there will agree, you can mess with me but not my kids. To beat a dead horse, they issued the pass to us last year at no charge and all rules/guideline/etc. remain the same. The only thing different is staffing and the fact that the school department kept/keeps poor records. I did not keep the correspondence on file which I admit is a huge mistakte I will not repeat that again. But they admit that what I have outlined is true, but they don't have record as to why we were given the pass therefor they will not re-issue it. If people do not take a stand, paying these "extra" fees will become the norm not the exception.

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

We live in Mishawaka, In. and they do not provide bus service. The kids either have to ride the city bus or parents drive them. We do not live near a city bus stop so I drove my son the 15 minutes to school. I also drove the neighbor's kids because I was the only parent not working days at the time. Big hassle. DS is now in college locally and thank goodness he drives.

I too am from Mishawaka, hello neighbor!



I may be the voice of dissent here, but I dont think $200 a year is too much to pay for transportation imho.If you divide that amount by the days attended in school, its quite a bargain comapred to driving your child yourself. I do have to say, tax money only goes so far, imho my childrens abilty to attend school comes first and in the grand scheme of things, its not much more than what most pay for their internet access every month....

to the op- I honestly think you are just upset because they bent the rules for you previously,and this super is making you follow them. 1.9 is under 2 miles, they have a guideline and it should be followed. To be honest, imho, they should back charge you for last year. There should be no exceptions to their rules just because you went in and complained....

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Mass schools are going downhill. My kids are going to private schools this year, it's going to be tight. How about the town fire department stop buying Expeditions, it seems every town has one. They don't need those expensive vehicles. Or how about taking some money out of sports, busses are more important. If you want to play sports then pay for it.

Yep. That's the biggest reason that we moved out of MA. Our town's school system was really good when we bought our 1st house and really, really bad when we moved out 7 years later. How the heck does that happen in only 7 years Our neighborhood was redistricted into a really yucky elementary school also.

We knew that if we wanted to have kids, we'd either have to find the $$ to move to Wellesley or Concord or the like (unlikely unless we wanted to pitch a tent by the side of the highway ), or else we'd have to stay put and pay for private school (that was a 30 minute commute from our house anyways). Since we couldn't afford to do that AND continue to pay the high cost of living in MA, we moved out to a state where we can afford the cost of living and private school tuition.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

So the saga continues!

I have been in touch with the 2 local papers - they are both running articles about bussing and will be including my story. I know 1 will not specifically be about us but about bussing in general but they are including this in it. I have also been in touch with the state dept. of ed. and they have informed me the chain of command that I have to appeal to and we are in the process of that now. I have contacted the school committee and am awaiting the response. I know some people here are questioning why am I argueing over $200 - some pay more than that for 1 child and this is the cost for 2 for us. Basically I feel that by signing that check I am agreeing with what the town is claiming and I do not agree what-so-ever. I am not generally a public outcry, take action kind of person, so this is not really "in character" for me BUT and I am sure alot of mothers out there will agree, you can mess with me but not my kids. To beat a dead horse, they issued the pass to us last year at no charge and all rules/guideline/etc. remain the same. The only thing different is staffing and the fact that the school department kept/keeps poor records. I did not keep the correspondence on file which I admit is a huge mistakte I will not repeat that again. But they admit that what I have outlined is true, but they don't have record as to why we were given the pass therefor they will not re-issue it. If people do not take a stand, paying these "extra" fees will become the norm not the exception.

I wouldn't back down on this one either..good luck, hopefully common sense will prevail.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I may be the voice of dissent here, but I dont think $200 a year is too much to pay for transportation imho....

It should come from our taxes. The money that is pulled out of every paycheck is INSANE! and yet how much do we see?

I wonder if they managed to pass the Fair Tax whether this nonsense would continue???

 

[HooKooDooKu]

...I may be the voice of dissent here, but I dont think $200 a year is too much to pay for transportation imho.If you divide that amount by the days attended in school, its quite a bargain comapred to driving your child yourself. I do have to say, tax money only goes so far, imho my childrens abilty to attend school comes first and in the grand scheme of things, its not much more than what most pay for their internet access every month....

to the op- I honestly think you are just upset because they bent the rules for you previously,and this super is making you follow them. 1.9 is under 2 miles, they have a guideline and it should be followed. To be honest, imho, they should back charge you for last year. There should be no exceptions to their rules just because you went in and complained....

But from the OP's point of view, she is at the 2 mile mark, not the 1.9.

It's MapQuest that says the distance is 1.9 miles... but I know from experience that you can't trust MapQuest. I have personally found situations where MapQuest had an address off by at least half a mile, so I certainly would not trust it when the distance in question is 0.1 miles.

As I understand it, the situation for the OP is that the law states a "distance" of 2.0 miles and it's the school district that is utilizing MapQuest as a measuring device. I would be very suprized if the law read (2.0 mile or greater as measured by MapQuest). And regardless of the amount, if the law states the OP doesn't have to pay, then she shouldn't have to pay just because the school district is using an imprecise measuring device (MapQuest).

However, to the OP, you seem to be trying to argue that since you got approved last year, you should still be approved this year. But since there is a new school administration in place that doesn't have documentation on why you got an exemption to last years to MapQuest's measurment, I think you're going to be stuck with pleading your case all over again and reprove that MapQuest is wrong.
If you're not familier with Google Earth, I'd be happy to help you make an independant measurement. If you like, PM me the address of the house and the school and I can make the measurement for you. If you do, include a basic instruction (like 5th house on the right) since MapQuest and Google Earth are frequently off by a couple of houses (they usually get you close, but seem to average being off my about 100-300 feet).

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Ok... time for a litigator's trick.

Your local school district (and the schools governed thereby) is a public agency. By law, you are entitled to inspect or make copies of every document they have, including emails and other documents related to conducting the day to day business of the district. Certain information is privileged but most public records laws are designed to provide the public with as much access as possible.

A guide to your state's public records act is below. Read it thoroughly and form a request that is not so broad that they will have an excuse to extend the time necessary to respond. Make more than one specific request. Make as many as you need, but don't make them frivolously. You are entitled to inspect documents for free should they try and make responding to your request cost prohibitive.

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf


Good luck.

So the saga continues!

I have been in touch with the 2 local papers - they are both running articles about bussing and will be including my story. I know 1 will not specifically be about us but about bussing in general but they are including this in it. I have also been in touch with the state dept. of ed. and they have informed me the chain of command that I have to appeal to and we are in the process of that now. I have contacted the school committee and am awaiting the response. I know some people here are questioning why am I argueing over $200 - some pay more than that for 1 child and this is the cost for 2 for us. Basically I feel that by signing that check I am agreeing with what the town is claiming and I do not agree what-so-ever. I am not generally a public outcry, take action kind of person, so this is not really "in character" for me BUT and I am sure alot of mothers out there will agree, you can mess with me but not my kids. To beat a dead horse, they issued the pass to us last year at no charge and all rules/guideline/etc. remain the same. The only thing different is staffing and the fact that the school department kept/keeps poor records. I did not keep the correspondence on file which I admit is a huge mistakte I will not repeat that again. But they admit that what I have outlined is true, but they don't have record as to why we were given the pass therefor they will not re-issue it. If people do not take a stand, paying these "extra" fees will become the norm not the exception.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

But from the OP's point of view, she is at the 2 mile mark, not the 1.9.

It's MapQuest that says the distance is 1.9 miles... but I know from experience that you can't trust MapQuest. I have personally found situations where MapQuest had an address off by at least half a mile, so I certainly would not trust it when the distance in question is 0.1 miles.

As I understand it, the situation for the OP is that the law states a "distance" of 2.0 miles and it's the school district that is utilizing MapQuest as a measuring device. I would be very suprized if the law read (2.0 mile or greater as measured by MapQuest). And regardless of the amount, if the law states the OP doesn't have to pay, then she shouldn't have to pay just because the school district is using an imprecise measuring device (MapQuest).

However, to the OP, you seem to be trying to argue that since you got approved last year, you should still be approved this year. But since there is a new school administration in place that doesn't have documentation on why you got an exemption to last years to MapQuest's measurment, I think you're going to be stuck with pleading your case all over again and reprove that MapQuest is wrong.
If you're not familier with Google Earth, I'd be happy to help you make an independant measurement. If you like, PM me the address of the house and the school and I can make the measurement for you. If you do, include a basic instruction (like 5th house on the right) since MapQuest and Google Earth are frequently off by a couple of houses (they usually get you close, but seem to average being off my about 100-300 feet).

I have argued the distance route as well, the interim superintendant has dismissed speaking with me - cut me off mid conversation with a "well Thank you for calling." While distance is an issue, MA state regulations allow some flexibility. The guidelines leave room for shades of gray like safety/health issues (I think crossing 2 busy intersections with no crossing guard/lights fits the safety issue.) while the interim superintendant only sees in black & white.

 

[6gr8kidz]

I am going to put in my 2 cents. I only read the OP message and the update on page 5. Anyway, I had a similar issue with our schools. Our issue was concerning charter buses that were speeding during field trips and the Principal and the Superintendent chose to do nothing. I went to the newspaper....It was front page news story. I went to our local news channel. I was on the 10 o'clock news. I went to the school board during a school board meeting after MANY phone calls to the SI. He never returned my calls until I went to the newspaper. IDIOT!! Anyway, the school system doesn't care whether your kids can ride the bus or not. They care about the bottom line. How much money they can make off your student.

As for paying for public transportation, there is no way in **** that I would pay for it. I would be asking WTH they are doing with your tax dollars that they could not afford to bus your child. FEE or no fee.

I lost faith in the public school system. I took my kids out and now homeschool them. My theory is any time the government is involved means it is worthlessl. How can they say you are entitled to a free education but you have to pay a bus fee to get there.


OP~One other avenue you can take it to write a letter to the editor. Maybe someone else is going through the same thing and will come forward. I have found 2 voices is louder than 1.

Ok, I done with my rant. As you can tell public school system really burns my hide.