What would you do: re: kids and the school bus...

[jcemom]

My brother's children (ages 8 and 10) were getting on the bus after school when another boy bumped into my nephew causing him to drop a toy he was carrying. The toy hit the ground and fell apart and he proceeded to try to gather all the pieces. The bus driver yelled at him, told him to get onto the bus now, and that she had a "schedule" to keep to. He told her he was trying to pick up his toy, pieces of which were under the bus, mind you. My niece then got off the bus to help her brother, at which point the bus driver closed the door and pulled out!!!

She left them on the curb in front of the elementary school!

A woman who lives in the neighborhood of my brother happened to be picking up her children when she saw my neice and nephew sitting on the curb crying. She took them into the school and offered to drive them home, at which point the secretary told her to go ahead and take them, without any type of permission or phone call to their parents!!! My sister tried to pick up my nephew before when he got sick at school and wasn't allowed because her name wasn't on "the list."

Needless to say my brother and sis-in-law were nothing short of furious. They spoke to the principal who assured them that it will be looked into and that they will consider having teachers outside at dismissal time from now on to be sure that all children get on the buses. The bus driver is still driving her route, and of course now my brother is taking the kids to and from school because he doesn't want them on a bus with a woman who would just leave them, not to mention the possibility that she could have run them over as they were picking up the toys!

I can't see how they can allow someone to just leave children like that, though. I know they were at school and not in the middle of nowhere, but they are only children. She (the bus driver) claimed that she couldn't get off the bus, not allowed...she could have used her radio or cellphone though to call someone!

Any suggestions or advice? Are we making a bigger deal out of this than it really is?

 

[Celluloidgal]

OMG
I can understand that the drivers have rules & schedules, BUT the childrens safety should be #1 priority. Taking off while the kids were still picking up toys was totally selfish & immature!!!

I would be so irrate! (What am I talking about...I AM irrate, and they are not even my kids!)

I hope the school responds appropriately.

 

[piglet too]

That is just plain wrong. I can't understand what would make the driver even think about doing something so mean. As for letting the neighbor take them home, that too could be so bad. What if .... I don't even really want to think about it. At all the schools around here, the teachers are required to take "bus duty" and there are a handful of teachers there just for the walkers too. If I was in your brother and SIL's shoes, I would be taking this all the way to the school board and calling the transportation department too. Let us know what comes of all of this!

 

[disdreams]

I would have been livid. I would call the transportation company, first of all. There is no reason why the bus driver could not have waited 5 minutes. When my children rode the bus, I would wait between 5-45 minutes for that bus every day. There was always a reason why it was late. Nobody expects the bus to be perfectly on time every day....it's not reality. You need to speak to someone in charge at the transportation company.

 

[CajunDixie]

In our school system the principal isn't the "boss" of the bus drivers....the director of transportation would have to be called at the central office. But every morning one to the phys ed teachers watch the kids get off the buses and enter the school and at at the end of the day the principal himself watches the kids get on the buses and gives the drivers a wave when he checks the hallway for slowpokes.

The school would have been held liable for those children if anything had happened to them before getting home....America is a lawsuit happy country.

 

[WDWAurora]

While I understand wanting to keep a schedule (I used to ride the bus to my elderly neighbor's house, and she would call the police if it was 5 minutes late, so the bus driver might be trying to avoid that) there is NO reason to leave the kids there and not alert someone inside the school, that is insane. What if a stranger had found them rather than someone they knew? Being that upset they probably would have easily gone with someone...And with them picking up toys under the bus...That just scares me to death. Absolutely ridiculous behavior that an adult should have no part in.

 

[Hillbeans]

Leaving two minor children alone AND while possibly with little fingers and toes under the bus is completely wrong on many levels.

I think that person should be fired, not for just leaving them, but also for leaving them while there was a safety hazard with them possibly very close to the bus tires.

How someone can go home and live with themselves after making two little kids cry like that has no heart (IMHO).
Call whomever you can, perhaps even the local newspaper.

People need to know what's going on.

 

[FroggyinArk]

Is havin gbus problems as well.. last 2 days we have obviously had a replacemen driver on dd12's route,, yesterday he was early,,, and going wrong direction on our street,, normal driver comes onto our street from east ,, this guy enters from west, dd catches bus from her great grannys house across s treet from us,, gives her chance to check on granny before schol and let us know if anything wrong,,, she can see t he east end of s treet from granny litchen window,, never a problem,, yesterday she miss bus cause not only did he come early was going wrong way,,, this upsets our dd very much to the point shgewas crying,, she knows mom wasnt ready to atke her to school,, mom leaves around 8 each morn,, well after bus,,, then today.. dd cals from grannys at 7:40.. bus sposed to run at 7 ,,, no bus came by yet,, we think maybe he missed her completely,, dw leaves early with dd,, as she gets to end of our block on main road,, there is the bus going west to easty again,, this time 45 min late.. dd about ready toi call school board herself. really think the drivers should hve to have better knowledge of the routes and routines if they are going to sub for others, and that they need to understand that kids are the reason theyt are t here,, not the schedual,, or the paycheck, oh yeah, and last week on thursday at 3 25 pm a tornado warning was issued for our county,, the schools were disdmissing asa it went off,,, dd says they went ahead and put evreyonmeon buses and started roiutes, hers ruyns directly through the predicted route of tornado, they ran trhe buses and on schedual,, that was whatreally scared us,, kids on a bus goinginto a thunderstorn that n w s thought contained tornadic a ctivity, schools these days are scarey,, neveer know what going to happern,, have seen the times when dd didnt get in from school till after 5 pm on bus,, that over 2 hrs on a school bus,, granted she is in the last block of the route,, short trip about 1 mile in morning,, but its a much longer run in afternoon and its ran the same durection,, she the last on in morn last off in after noon

 

[CEDmom]

When I think about all the things that could have happened to those kids . I don't think anyone is overreacting. I'd contact the Board of Ed because as someone else posted the Principal isn't in charge of the drivers.

The Principal is however in charge of the office staff and what happened there was wrong as well.

I can't believe there isn't any teacher outside. What happens with the 5 & 6 yo kids? I can't imagine letting them wait outside unsupervised with cars and buses coming and going.

 

[Serena]

Call the transportation company. It is one thing to leave the kids there, when they wouldn't get on the bus. It's another to put them in danger by trying to drive away while they are near the wheels.
I would be loud and clear about it.

We've had bus drivers fired over forgetting to check the bus before leaving for the day. Sleeping kids being on the bus overnight. I think this should at least deserve firing.

 

[WDWAurora]

I'd contact the Board of Ed because as someone else posted the Principal isn't in charge of the drivers.

Apparently that's true in certain places, but here the principal is, so that's who I would go to first. My dad is a retired principal, and I remember when I was younger he used to get to school before the first bus went out and he stayed at school until the last bus returned...He was in charge and wanted to be there and reachable if there were any problems. When he had an assistant principal at a middle school, he was in charge of the buses. They were in charge to the extent of assigning routes, drivers, etc. I would contact the school before anybody else because here the DOT for the system is only in charge of bus upkeep.

 

[WeirdEyes]

Needless to say my brother and sis-in-law were nothing short of furious. They spoke to the principal who assured them that it will be looked into and that they will consider having teachers outside at dismissal time from now on to be sure that all children get on the buses.

They will CONSIDER having teachers outside at dismissal time? OMG!!! I would be soooo furious! My DS is in high school now and they STILL have teachers outside during dismissal time. Heck, most of the teachers were outside during dismissal time when he was in elementary school for this very reason. IMO, the bus driver should be either fired or suspended. I wouldn't let my son ride on her bus again.

 

[jacksonsmom]

I agree with what others have stated.
I would be livid!!!!

The school and bus driver were in the wrong.
I would not let this rest if this was my child.

 

[jcemom]

Originally posted by Serena
We've had bus drivers fired over forgetting to check the bus before leaving for the day. Sleeping kids being on the bus overnight.

OMG!

The principal did tell my SIL that the drivers work for another company and that he would look into it, not a very comforting answer really, though SIL says the principal is very nice, he doesn't seem very responsive.

I, too, was quite surprised that they don't have teachers outside, as I know we did when I was in school. My children go to a school that doesn't offer bus service, and even though all children are picked up by parents/other caregivers at the end of the day, the parking lot and pick up area are still monitored by teachers as well as security staff and sometimes even the principal himself. It is a very small school and everyone knows everyone, so to speak, and all look out for each other. We STILL have teachers outside to make sure all goes well.

Add to the story this bit of information I just got from my mom: SIL spoke to another girl in her neighborhood who had this driver when she was in high school a couple of years ago. She was 16 at the time and left her purse at school. She asked the driver to turn around and go back (which of course she couldn't do, even I understand that). The driver proceeded to stop the bus along the highway and tell the girl to get off and walk back to school for her purse if she wanted to!!! The girl did get off (stupid girl) and walked back to school then called for a ride home. This was the same bus driver. I'm wondering how she has kept her job and how many other "incidents" have gone unreported.

SIL wanted to call the local news as they do have reporters who sometimes cover this type of story, consumer advocate-types I guess. My brother didn't want her to do that. If they haven't already I will suggest to them to get in touch with those on the school board as that sounds like a good next step. Thanks for the advice and I'll keep you updated as things progress...hopefully they DO progress.

 

[Lorix2]

I think the bus driver was negligent. Leaving the kids alone to fend for themselves?

Also, I'm surprised the school doesn't have teachers outside at dismissal to make sure every child gets on a bus or whichever transportation they take. Our school has teachers everywhere as guides. You'd bet they wouldn't pull this kind of thing with supervision around them. The school could be held liable too if god forbid something happened to them because of it.

The parents definitely took the right steps, but if nothing is done to discipline this irresponsible idiot, then I would probably deal with her personally and legally of course.

 

[Hillbeans]

What if in the process of letting this girl off the bus to walk back to school she got hit by a car? Or abducted?

Huge, huge red flags. This story is heading towards a sad ending if someone doesn't do anything about this horrible person now.

Does someone have to get hurt in order for someone to act?

If your SIL/Brother don't want to do anything then if I were you, i'd probably pursue this myself. Why not call the local paper? I'm not saying to become a vigilante over this, however you could call the newspaper and still be somewhat anonomyous. A newspaper can do the research and you'll still be the good guy. They'd love to expose something like this.

 

[auntpolly]

Originally posted by jcemom
OMG!
though SIL says the principal is very nice, he doesn't seem very responsive.

translation: smiling real big while he passes the buck!

I started driving my daughter to school or she rode her bike when she was little because the bus just seemed so dangerous in so many ways. For one thing, we have buses with seat belts but there are so many kids on every bus that there aren't nearly enough seat belts. A seat with 2 belts always has 3 kids in it.

 

[KNGMADDI98]

I personally the first thing I would do would be calling the principal, director of transportation, and the bus company (if a separate entity every day..... for an answer -- you want and DESERVE an answer as to why this happened. The 2nd thing I'd be doing is submitting a bill to both the school and/or bus company for cost of transportation. Heck your already paying for it once - with school taxes (if you pay those in your state)......public education includes transportation - if your providing, I would demand at least $.25 per mile. Submitt a bill weekly! --- Good luck - let us know how this plays out.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

That is TERRIBLE. This woman has no business driving a bus full of school children. I honestly think the family should press charges, if for no other reason to get the woman charged with negligence.

 

[C.Ann]

Former school bus driver here..

Bus driver was grossly negligent and should be fired.

Person who allowed children to leave with a stranger was grossly negligent and at the very least deserves a severe reprimand..

School is grossly negligent in not having teachers outside during bussing - neligent in not informing office workers or whoever about the policy of sending children off with strangers - and also negligent in not vigorously pursuing the bus company..

They should all be brought to task and I would NOT shut my mouth until they were! No passing of the buck!!!