Dear Reva: School Bus Problems

Dear Reva,
I am writing as I am outraged at the ridiculous decision our small town school has made to no longer pick up students at their houses. This pertains to children who are in 4th grade and up. If they are in kindergarten through 3rd grade, the children will be picked up at their homes by the bus. But, 4th grade and up have to walk to a corner, some, quite a distance away to get a ride on the bus. I am appalled. Busses aren’t always on time, so many parents who have little babies or toddlers will have to dress and get out in the cold daily for the winter weather. And they will because no parent in their right mind will let their kids who are 10 years old stand outside to be stalked by strangers in this day and age. Not to mention the fact that there’s a pedophile who lives a half mile away from our school. Great, huh? So much for helping us protect our kids. I know of a grandmother who has her granddaughter in the morning as the kid’s mom goes to work early. This girl has to walk two blocks down and turn a corner. That older grandmother can’t even see the kid none-the-less help her if she was to get hurt. The school said the law permits them to do this, and they need to save money due to the budget problems. This is a school district whose taxes are very generous to the school. I don’t understand how they could be saving much money at all. Even so, I will gladly pay the what???? 10 cents a ride for my kid to get picked up at our home. Reva, what can we do? Concerned Parent

Dear Concerned Parent,
I am going to assume you and other parents have gone to the school board with this problem. If not, write letters to them, go to a board meeting, get a petition moving NOW! Have everyone in the community sign it. Even call the superintendent’s office and talk with him / her about your concerns. VOICE! VOICE! VOICE! Loudly and strongly…get everyone involved even parents of the k-3 kids because it will soon affect them too. The school district has really inconvenienced everyone here and put kids in a rather unsafe position.You can even write letters to the editor of the local newspaper and online newspapers. Also call the bus garage and complain. There is power in numbers here. The more people who complain and ruffle their feathers, so to speak, the more likely you will change their minds on this because this is not a good thing. The district probably wants to keep this quiet. You can even write your mayor and senator to seek help. Hopefully, the school district will see what a problem this is and change its decision. Until that changes, you may want to carpool kids to school. Maybe take turns with other parents you know well. Good luck! ~Reva

Dear Reva: School Bus Problems

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