Was It Wrong Of Me To Call The School Bus Company and Request a Favor?

[Wish Upon A Star]

Tomorrow is going to be extremely cold here with wind chill readings -20.

DD's H.S. Bus comes normally around 7:05am. She is the only one at the bus stop (our house is right on the corner).

I called the bus company to ask if there was any way possible that tomorrow morning they can stop right at the end of our driveway so that way DD could wait inside instead of freezing. She is unable to wait inside normally because you can't see the bus coming (it comes down the street). This morning I went in to work late because DD and DS had a 90 minute delay. So I waited inside the garage until I saw/heard my DD's bus coming so she was able to stay in and keep warm.

I was told that they couldn't promise me that because that is not their policy. Normally this bus driver will drive right past the house if she doesn't see anyone, she doesn't even slow down.

Was I wrong to ask that favor? I guess I'll tell DD to wait inside tomorrow morning and see if the bus stops, otherwise she'll have to miss school. I will not let her wait out there in sub freezing temps.

DS bus driver always stops for him, maybe its because he's in 5th grade, I dunno.

 

[Indyman]

You would have been wrong to demand it, but there is nothing wrong with asking.

 

[crs7568]

I think that this extreme weather is cause for requesting more from the school district than usual. I don't see anything wrong with a polite request. Good luck and stay warm.

 

[Lewski709]

all they can do is tell you no.

FYI....this would hail some interesting responses on the debate board.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

No not wrong to ask. When it is bad weather I just drive my kids.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

FYI....this would hail some interesting responses on the debate board.

I'm AFRAID of the Debate Board!

 

[Mskanga]

Our transportation department does not make ANY exceptions, except if there's a medical reason , that's when they send the especial ed bus.
No matter what the weather is like , they always tell you, the designated bus stops are the only spots they will stop at. Too many people were asking them to stop close to their homes or pick up their kids in their driveways since they were driving by there anyway and it got out of hand.

 

[Desnik]

I completely agree with your request. I was going to call my DD(in Kindergarten) bus company and request the same thing! What I have been doing is looking out my door or waiting outside myself and when I see the bus at the stop before us then I have her come out. The bus stops about 5 houses away for a total of 4 kids. I have to let her walk there while standing in front of my house because I have my 10mo son in the house. I will not take him out in this weather. I just wish they could stop either at the house or at least alittle closer. The way the road is I cannot see her stop from my house, I have to walk out to the street. I haven't called because I kind of have a feeling they won't accomodate me.

 

[DisneyJules]

If the bus company would fill your request that would be really nice of them. If they don't, it's all about layers I've taken the bus in the worst of weather since I was very young. The key is to not allow any skin to be exposed. It was -45 last week. It was darn cold, but I was completely fine taking the bus considering I had a tuque on, scarf, mits and a couple years on. I don't just have to wait for the bus but I have a ways to walk as well. The cold sure stinks, doesn't it!

 

[Lewski709]

I'm AFRAID of the Debate Board!

I get my best daily laughs over there.

 

[vald1977]

Was It Wrong Of Me To Call The School Bus Company and Request a Favor?

Of course not. With the weather temps as low as they have been, they say that frostbite is a concern in as little as 5-10 minutes. It really is a shame, though, that they couldn't give you an answer one way or another so you would know what to expect.

Gotta go get the kids I watch off the bus now. I'm so glad I can actually see the bus go past the road before mine so I don't have to stand out there and freeze.

Stay warm everybody.

 

[Mskanga]

OK, assuming that everyone here has a car....why can't you just warm up the car and wait for the bus at the bus stop? I have done that with my kids, one an infant and the other one starting school.

 

[Octoberbride03]

I don't think you were wrong to ask. But where i come from hose requests go to the school district office not the bus office. I can tell you that if my weather report said 20 below 0, there'd be long weekend in my house. No way would i send my kids out the door in those temps.

We had temps like that when i was in college in PA. Schools closed rather than having massive absences. Now I'm in VA and with God's grace I'll never see temps like that down here.

On another note: 7:05 in the morning????? That was the high school start time in my school district. Kindergarten goes in at 8:30 -9am.

 

[HoneyPooh]

There's nothing wrong with asking . If they say no don't take it personally though. We had a problem with our sons bus once where the bus driver started stopping at houses (she was trying to be nice) and she ended up picking up some of the kids at the end of the route as much as 20 minutes later than scheduled due to all the extra stops. The problem was that once she did it for one family she ended up doing it for LOTS of families and it slowed down the route time a lot. She ended up having to stop doing it for everyone. They may say no simply for that reason. I was upset the first day because my son was one of the ones who stood out there for 20 extra minutes in the cold but once I found out why and knew to send him out 20 minutes later I didn't care as long as he got to school on time, but a lot of other families complained that it messed up everyones schedule and it created a lot of hard feelings so she had to stop. I remember some pretty cold mornings at the bus stop myself .

 

[Mishetta]

At the start of the school year, the bus stop was across the street. I have an 8 y/o & my other neighbor who sends her kids to the same private school has a 9 y/o & a 5 y/o. Anyway, in the mornings we walk our kids to the bus stop & wait there with them but in the afternoons, the bus comes at all diff times. Sometimes it's a 30 min difference from the day before! I can't wait out there for 30 minutes when I have a napping child (I'd be 5 houses down but I don't like to leave the baby in the house alone) & am trying to get dinner ready. Anyway, I sent in a "Transportation Change Request" form (which I had to get from our school's office) & filled it out & sent it to the bussing administration. It took about 2 weeks, but they did honor my request of pickup/drop off kids on our side of the street. The other kids also live on our side of the street, so it didn't make any sense to me to have these children all cross the road to catch the bus.

I know this didn't answer your questions about the cold weather condition but what I was getting at, was that I had asked the bus driver (not knowing I had to fill out the form) when school started if she could pick up on our side of the street (to save the kids from crossing) & she said it wasn't a problem for her but it had to be posted on school records. She couldn't just change the "stop" herself. She said that if the following day a substitute bus driver was picking up our kids, she would have expected them where the route was flagged to stop. So if your bus driver does not honor your request, that could be the reason. I know to us it is just a simple matter of convenience but to them, it's a matter of following rules set by their administration.

Good luck & I hope you get what you want! We all want to protect our little chickies as long as we can, as Mother Hens!

 

[aprilgail2]

I would just drive mine to school if the weather was bad,....sometimes I see parents sitting at the bus stop in their cars so the kids can sit in there until the bus comes...I really don't see the point to that, why not just drive them over to the school since you have your car out already....

 

[luvdzny]

I have to disagree, why should your daughter get special treatment? The bus for my HS age DD drives by a lot of the houses that have kids riding the bus. If every parent wanted her to stop and pick up their child it would take hours for the bus to get to school. I live in Wisconsin and we have had below zero windchills this year. DD walked to the bus stop (approx 1 block away) and waited with the rest of the kids. It would be unfair to pick up 1 child at home and not the rest.

 

[DisneyObsessed]

Hopefully they will cancel school for you like they did in our area.