How far do your high school age kids walk to the school bus stop?

[DVC-Don]

Under 1.5 mile and you have to walk here.

 

[Robinrs]

We moved to a house that is now a block and a half from my son's school. With all of his extracurricular activities and hardly ANY parking space this is a Godsend!!

 

[allison443]

First of all, I am shocked that so many people do not have bus service. That is one of the things I looked into when I decided to move here.

Secondly, we live in NH, the bus service here has always picked up the kids at their driveways if they are standing out there, but they will not stop if you are not there. My issue is WHY does MY son have to walk to the next stop that also has one kid and is also on the same street that we live on? The bus passes my house (as it does theirs). I do not live on a side street, it is not out of their way and if the 3 other kids (all single stops)on my street get picked up at their driveways than why can't mine?

Thirdly, I NEVER said my son was lazy, a snowfake OR that he wouldn't/couldn't do the walk. My son is actually in great shape.

And lastly...to question my parenting skills...really? I think I am done with these boards. It is a shame that we cannot post a question and get feedback (good and bad) without the derogatory comments. I will leave them to the people that apparently do not work and have time to post rude comments and drive their kids to school, unlike the bad parents that work and leave their children to fend for themselves.

It is quite obvious that my child is being singled out. I think it is because I complained about the bus company last year. I am surprised that none of you commented on the flooded road part that I included in my original post. If I knew how to post the picture of the road I would post it for you to see. This bus company was negligent. And when it comes to my kids safety, NOTHING will stop me from doing what I think is best for them.

For those of you that did respond with comments that did not include sarcasm and ridicule. Thank you.

If every other high school student (not middle school) gets picked up at their house, then I think you should question it. Sometimes there are mistakes made with the routes. However, things are not always the same for middle school and high school.

However, you asked how far other people's kids walk and I think what a lot of people reacted to was that you seemed to be saying it was too far to walk and what about inclement weather. I understand it would be so much more convenient to be right in front of the house (especially with a teenager in the morning!) but it certainly isn't unacceptable to walk to a bus stop (unless you are being singled out for last year's incident, which would be wrong.)

I would try to find out what your district's rules are for high school bus transportation, and if your son is the only one walking to a stop. Then you can decide how to handle it.

Good luck!

 

[moburg]

The school will not let them drive unless they are juniors. SO, since I work he has to take the bus. I just don't understand if the bus PASSES my house to the other house...why can't it stop? I mean what if he is late one day and the bus passes him walking to the stop are they just going to keep driving? Why can't they make the bus stop in the middle stop of the two houses if there is a time issue?

I think they are mad I reported them.

How about consideration for the rest of the drivers on the road?

There is nothing wrong with one stop at one of the houses. One stop in the middle might make more sense, depending, but it's not a big deal one way or the other. Perhaps the parents are at home at the other house and school preferred to have a guardian watching the stop. Who knows? But kids do NOT need door to door service. I see it far too often as it is. Try sitting in a car behind that bus and see how much you like frequent door to door stops.

 

[minniebeth]

I drive my DS 3 miles to his bus stop, but his school is around 23 miles away. We are very greatful we have bus service!

 

[Jennasis]

First of all, I am shocked that so many people do not have bus service. That is one of the things I looked into when I decided to move here.

Secondly, we live in NH, the bus service here has always picked up the kids at their driveways if they are standing out there, but they will not stop if you are not there. My issue is WHY does MY son have to walk to the next stop that also has one kid and is also on the same street that we live on? The bus passes my house (as it does theirs). I do not live on a side street, it is not out of their way and if the 3 other kids (all single stops)on my street get picked up at their driveways than why can't mine?

Thirdly, I NEVER said my son was lazy, a snowfake OR that he wouldn't/couldn't do the walk. My son is actually in great shape.

And lastly...to question my parenting skills...really? I think I am done with these boards. It is a shame that we cannot post a question and get feedback (good and bad) without the derogatory comments. I will leave them to the people that apparently do not work and have time to post rude comments and drive their kids to school, unlike the bad parents that work and leave their children to fend for themselves.

It is quite obvious that my child is being singled out. I think it is because I complained about the bus company last year. I am surprised that none of you commented on the flooded road part that I included in my original post. If I knew how to post the picture of the road I would post it for you to see. This bus company was negligent. And when it comes to my kids safety, NOTHING will stop me from doing what I think is best for them.

For those of you that did respond with comments that did not include sarcasm and ridicule. Thank you.

Dude, really?? THREE pages...FORTY FIVE posts, and only one person mentions snowflake and one makes a "parenting" comment and you're up in arms YAGEing ("I think I am done with these boards")?

I thought everybody answered your question honestly and pretty straightforward (my own lame attempt at humor the exception).

 

[DebD4T]

When my children were in grade school, I drove about 2 miles to the bus stop. I tried to get a stop closer, but the BOE wouldn't budge. They actually told me that I could put my 3 children on the city bus and have them transfer to another bus to get them to school.

Middle school does not offer bussing unless you are special needs. Students are offered Metrocards which allows them to use the city busses for free.

I don't know whether High school offers bussing for special needs, but they absolutly do not offer for mainstream students. They too are offered a metrocard.

DS would take the train (I dropped him off at the station) and then transfer to the city bus for High school.

DD#1 (high school) gets a ride to school in the morning and walks about a half mile to the city bus stop to come home.

DD#2 gets a ride to and from school (I car pool with 2 other parents)

None of my children went to a school close enough to consider walking.

 

[Debbie7452]

I guess this is too late to help the OP who might have left, but I have been through the ringer with bus issues and came out ahead so here goes.

I live out in the country and we had great driveway bus service until a grouchy neighbor threatened the school district with a lawsuit if they kept sending the bus down our private (shared) road. For 1/2 of the year we drove our kids down to the bus stop at the end of our street to catch the bus while we sorted out the legal issues of who has a right to come down the road...etc. We drove them because they were teenage girls and we didn't feel they were safe left there alone. There have been several bus stop kidnappings near our area. The district agreed that the situation was unsafe and we finally got bus service restored...oh happy days! We moved shortly after to get away from the crazy neighbor.

Before you go off the deep end and become oppositional to the bus folks, have you talked to the driver? Many times they will pick up a kid at their driveway if they are going by it anyway, even if it is not the "official" bus stop. Please try asking, you might be pleasantly surprised that the whole upsetting issue can be easily resolved.

 

[HonnyDipp]

we have a registered sex offender living on my street, the kids were expected to walk up the street and around the corner to catch the bus. When I found out about the neighbor, I called the transportation department and my kids were picked up directly at our front door. Now that my DD is starting high school, the rules dont apply. They expect my girl to walk 6 blocks to catch the bus! I walked the distance when I was her age but there is no way I'm allowing my girl to walk that twice a day times are so different now. So I will be taking her to school and picking her up this year. My Ds's will be picked up at our door as usual.

 

[scrapquitler]

I think that lots of times, the stop is in front of a few houses, and not ALL simply as a matter of timing. If the bus stops at 5 houses on the street it takes 5 times as long as if it stops at one house. In my area, the busses do the high school runs on a tight schedule, because after they drive around and pick up high school kids, they drop those kids off at the high school, then they go back around on a similar but slightly different route to pick up the middle school students (middle school starts 40 minutes after the high school), then once the middle school kids are dropped off, the bus does ANOTHER run to get the elementary school kids to school (another 40 minutes after the middle school starts). In the afternoon, it all happens again. If they stopped at every house, the bus would never get to the next school's run on time.

Also in my town, the bus won't enter certain subdivisions at all (a matter of the roads being controlled by the HOA vs the town), and it absolutely will not enter a cul-de-sac, so anyone living on a cul-de-sac or regular dead end road always has to walk the end of the road. We live on a cul-de-sac, so the stop is at the end of our street (less than 1/4 mile).

School board policy in my town is the elementary school students get bus service if they live more than 1 mile from school, middle school students get it if they are 1.5 miles or more from school, and high school students walk unless they are more than 2 miles from school. There are certain exceptions (a state highway needs to be crossed, the railroad tracks are on the way) and elementary school kids get the bus if they live closer than 1 mile IF there are not sidewalks for the entire walking route.

The schools for my address are located in such a way that the elementary school, middle school and high school are all next door to one another. We live 1.6 miles from the schools, so my kids were eligible for busses for elementary and middle school. Now that my daughter is in high school, she does not meet the guidelines, so she has to walk. However, there is a kind of blind intersection right near my street that makes me nervous, and part of the way has no sidewalks. Still, we don't qualify for the bus, so she is supposed to walk. However, she is lazy and we live at the top of a very big hill...downhill to get there, but a VERY uphill walk to get home. NO fun. I will be driving her. She's not a snowflake, but hey, I was hit by a car when I was little, and so I am really paranoid about the walking thing (I will NOT walk on the side of a street without a sidewalk, period).

 

[dimimi]

Who knows if the OP will come back, but hopefully she is still reading.

I agree with her. Either the bus stops at her house, just like they do the other 3 houses, or the bus stops inbetween the 2 houses. It just doesn't make sense.

 

[TaraPA]

It is quite obvious that my child is being singled out. I think it is because I complained about the bus company last year.

I don't see it that way at all. There are MANY logistics involved in how they determine bus stops (state law, county law, township/city ordinaces, traffic patterns, etc) that to think the transporation dept. just singled you out to make your life miserable sounds paranoid!

 

[pbthompson]

The school called me and said that they reviewed the situation and will stop at my house from now on.

My comment about being done with this board did not stem from this post alone. I know that there are nice people on here, I have seen that, BUT it seems that there are more piranhas on here (people that lurk on the boards just to attack people, say rude things and start issues.) I have NO problem with people disagreeing with me. I would NEVER post, say or think half of the stuff people post. Maybe I was raised differently, but I have manners and I have an edit button that I use when addressing people. That said, I am also a redhead and can give as good as I get when the need arises. However, I find no pleasure in cutting people down unprovoked though.

I understand when we post on a discussion board we are opening our lives up, but I don't see the need for the spiteful comments. I was hoping the boards would be a place to have stimulating, intellectual conversations with adults. I wasn't expecting the playground bully mentality. I guess I overestimated the crowd.

 

[1stluvispooh]

Ugh don't get me started on our school buses.

 

[Ohiodislover]

First of all, I am shocked that so many people do not have bus service. That is one of the things I looked into when I decided to move here.

Sorry, but you get defensive because people don't have a problem with a healthy teen walking less than a mile to get somewhere but then you say this, as if parents who don't live in areas with bussing are somehow neglectful because we didn't check, or couldn't/wouldn't move to an area that provided bussing.

The education at a school trumps bussing IMO. My child will be walking a mile, but will be in one of the top 25 schools in the country. A little walk won't hurt them.

Hope you get things worked out.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Now that my DD is starting high school, the rules dont apply. They expect my girl to walk 6 blocks to catch the bus! I walked the distance when I was her age but there is no way I'm allowing my girl to walk that twice a day times are so different now. So I will be taking her to school and picking her up this year. My Ds's will be picked up at our door as usual.

Wait a minute - your high school child cannot walk 6 blocks? Where I live there are no buses to school - heck fifth graders walk 6 blocks to school.
In high school you walk or take public transportation.

Times are not so different now - parents are just more helicopter-y and coddle their snowflake.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

My DD15 walks a mile to school. Obviously, a mile home, too. I will drive her once a week--typically when she has her trumpet. There are only sidewalks for the last few hundred yards. To hear her tell it, it's child abuse--this, from a girl who lettered in cross country last year, and routinely runs 6-8 miles a day!

I really don't see the big deal in either walking les than a mile to a bus stop, or walking 6 blocks. We're talking about HS students. When they go off to college, won't most of them be dependent on foot power to get around? I know I did.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

The bus stop is 3/4 of a mile from our house on a main road where folks are supposed to drive at 45 MPH. But most go around 55 MPH.

No sidewalks or street lights.

The high schoolers are picked up at 6:25am so they are hoofing it in the dark. In the winter it's in the dark for the elementary schoolers too.

My High Schooler walks it and I'm fine with that.

I do take my Elementary Schooler to the bus stop in the winter because I'm not comfortable with her walking it in the winter in the dark with no lights. The rest of the time, she walks to the bus stop.

I would think your High Schooler would be fine walking to the bus stop since it's less than a mile.

 

[mhsjax]

A few things. First I am shocked at the number of people that don't have bus service, that is an outrage.
2nd, I am all for walking and I don't know how far our high schooler go, but most moms drop them off at the bus stop on the way to work, probably because it is literally on the way, you have to pass it. I am not sure I would want a kid walking on a road, even though it is only 35, which mean most people go 40, without a sidewalk, that isn't safe. I wouldn't do it as an adult.

all that texting going on that so many people are so fond off, one slight move off the road and the kid is dead.

3rd. and go ahead and tell me I am raising a snowflake, because I know I am not, but I live live in Florida, right now it is probably 90 outside with 100% humidity, I dont' want my kids all hot and sweaty from walking to the bus stop (I am talking about a bus stop that people are saying is a mile from home, my kids walk to the bus stop now). going home not so much of a problem but I don't want my kids to stink and be all sweaty before they even get to school.

 

[mhsjax]

The bus stop is 3/4 of a mile from our house on a main road where folks are supposed to drive at 45 MPH. But most go around 55 MPH.

No sidewalks or street lights.

The high schoolers are picked up at 6:25am so they are hoofing it in the dark. In the winter it's in the dark for the elementary schoolers too.

My High Schooler walks it and I'm fine with that.

I do take my Elementary Schooler to the bus stop in the winter because I'm not comfortable with her walking it in the winter in the dark with no lights. The rest of the time, she walks to the bus stop.

I would think your High Schooler would be fine walking to the bus stop since it's less than a mile.

No way I would let my kid or me for that matter walk on a road with no sidewalk in the dark where people are driving 55 MPH, that is nothing but insane. Just wait the first time a kid gets killed there will be a big stink about it.



It is dark no sidewalks, people are driving way too fast it is early they are probably tired still and not expecting too many people on the road. one slight wrong move on the kids part or the drivers part and your kid is dead. To me this is totally irresponsible on everyones part for this bus stop even being there. There is no excuse for that. I can't believe anyone would be fine with that.