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Post by Rainy_Day_Woman on Sept 4, 2016 13:20:45 GMT
I am curious what age your kids can get on and off the school bus alone. My daughter is in grade 4 and switching into French immersion this year so she will bused. The bus stop is at her old school, which is across the street from the house (less than 200 metres away). The bus driver called me to verify pick up times, and told me that she needed to have a parent with her for pick up or drop off, or they won't pick her up, and will return her to the school if we aren't there. If it isn't us or the designated person, they require me to text them in the morning and the person needs to provide a copy of their licence each time at pick up They won't release her to a high school student (which I maybe could maybe arrange but still wouldn't be a reliable option) Grade 3/4 is when our school lets the kids walk home from school, so I mistakenly thought this wouldn't be an issue. She walked home alone for the second half of last year. Apparently, anyone under 18 (!!) requires an adult to pick them up from the bus. We work, so she goes to day care before and after school which is about a 3-4 minute walk down the street. The bus comes 25 minutes before the old school starts, and 40 minutes after the old school ends, so her day care provider can't pick her up. After school, I could probably put together a mishmash of people to pick her up, but I can't find a single person who would be able to see her on the bus in the morning. I can wait until Tuesday, to see if any other kids are at this stop. Maybe I can pay another parent to put her on the bus, but that is likely pretty unreliable if they ever run late, their kid is sick, etc... I know it's an inconvenience that I would probably rather not have myself. And then the idea of having to arrange this until she is 18 is making me want to bang my head against the wall. She may just have to stay where she is right now. I know I am probably a bit more free-range than some parents, but this seems a little bit of overkill to me. Maybe I need to get with the times  What are the rules in your area? |
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Post by secondlife on Sept 4, 2016 13:37:07 GMT
I asked this question a while back. My third grader wants to walk to and from the bus stop alone and I don't feel ready for that. The pea consensus was that it seems early too.
Here the policy is that the only kids who must be met at the bus by an adult - are kindergarteners. First grade and up they don't mandate it anymore.
I am thinking fifth or sixth grade seems like the right time for us but I haven't decided that yet. I do let her walk home with friends or play in the common area after school with the other kids while I go work in the yard or garage or somewhere else I can see them now and then. I am admittedly not a super free range parent so there's that.
Our school will drop off at daycare if it's on the route. Would your school do that for her?
Could it be cost effective to discontinue daycare but hire someone to be with her before and after school and either take her to the bus or just drive her to school?
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Post by esperanza on Sept 4, 2016 13:41:37 GMT
Our bus stop is 1/2 mile away down a curvy, tree filled road. There's not a clear line of sight, otherwise I would let both my kids walk. I still take my 4th grader to and from bus. There was reports of suspicious vehicles with a weird man skulking around bus stops last year so that freaked me the hell out. My high schooler walks alone to and from bus though, but he's 15. He has his cell phone on and the Life360 app alerts me when he gets to bus stop and when he leaves.
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Post by myshelly on Sept 4, 2016 13:45:23 GMT
Our school does not offer bus service at all.
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Post by scrappychick on Sept 4, 2016 14:02:58 GMT
Can you ask that she be picked up and dropped off at daycare?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2016 14:06:41 GMT
For us, it was 6th grade before we even had a chance at riding a bus. But I left the house for work before the bus came. Luckily I had twins so they definitely had each other and usually a few other 'hood kids if they needed anything.
3rd/4th grade does seem early if she is getting let off at a school with no responsible adults available. Could you see if the school secretary/etc are still there such that she could "check in" in the morning when she gets there and then before walking home? Was this her prior school? Maybe they could help out?
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grinningcat
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Post by grinningcat on Sept 4, 2016 14:06:51 GMT
That's way overkill. It's infantilizing children to not let them off the bus if someone isn't there. It's just getting out of control. I can sort of understand kindergarteners needing this rule? But anything beyond that? Give me a break. Give the kids some independence.
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Post by salem on Sept 4, 2016 14:07:58 GMT
18? What?
Our schools will not allow a K-2 grader off the bus without a parent or older teen present. I really don't know about picking them up in the morning as I drop my younger off to get to work earlier.
My younger is in 4th grade this year and she will be coming home off the bus and they will drop her no problem. I do have an older teen that will be here, but I highly doubt she will wait outside for her sister. There's no walking though. They drop at the end of our driveway on our busy street.
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rickmer
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Post by rickmer on Sept 4, 2016 14:38:01 GMT
when dd was in french immersion in public school, she got to take the bus til grade 6 because she had her younger brother on the bus. her classmate was the youngest in his family and was kicked off the bus for grade 6. he was old enough to walk alone according to "the rules". not sure i agree with that, bus was a full size bus with 15 kids on it. TONS of room for one more kid.
my teen DD has been picking up her brother from the bus since grade 9 and last year middle son (in grade 5) was picking up his younger brother from bus.
not only have bus drivers never asked how old anyone is, once BOTH boys were left with no on to pick them up two years ago. they were in grade 1 and grade 3. i was running up the street for work and as i came around the corner, i saw them both standing there and the bus was long gone!
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Post by Linda on Sept 4, 2016 14:42:30 GMT
our school policy is that elementary students (K-5) need to have a parent "in sight" in order to be dropped off. I find that overkill to be honest - especially for my child who is dropped off at our mailbox and only has to walk up a private dirt driveway (easment) and then up our driveway to get home - she's never off private property between the bus stop and house. Most students in our area are dropped off at either their driveway or at the entrance to their subdivision. My YDD is a car rider in the morning because her bus comes before the sun does (615am) but rides the bus in the afternoon - I would trust her to walk home from the bus stop but I walk down every day, rain or shine, because otherwise they'll take her back to the school and call a parent (in our case DH since I don't drive) to pick her up. I would prefer to be able to decide myself if she's ready to walk home alone. My ODD is in high school - I walk TO the bus stop with her in the morning because that's our time to talk  but she walks home alone in the afternoon and has done so since 6th grade. |
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Post by Rainy_Day_Woman on Sept 4, 2016 14:42:35 GMT
There is one stop per zone so they won't take her to daycare. We have to leave much too early to take her to school ourselves. I can see if we were more rural. I wouldn't be comfortable either. The bus stop is literally 10 feet from the front office of her old school. Its a giant glass window wall and I can see the principal and receptionist at her desk when I stand there The day care options in my area are so abysmal. I have been looking frantically but I really can't find someone who would be able to take her to the bus in the morning. None of the other moms want to have to be ready a half hour before their kids have to go to school (and I don't blame them, I wouldn't either!) |
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Post by freecharlie on Sept 4, 2016 14:43:15 GMT
Wow, that is completely nuts. Kindergarten was the last year they did that here.
When I went back to work, my son had to walk home two blocks by himself (well with other kids in the neighborhood) when he was 8. I could not have worked otherwise. He walked home to his dad who was sleeping due to the night shift and we got him a phone in case he needed to call.
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Post by Rainy_Day_Woman on Sept 4, 2016 14:44:09 GMT
I know, right? You can drop out of school here when you are 16 but you can't get off a bus? |
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Post by Rainy_Day_Woman on Sept 4, 2016 14:45:26 GMT
Wow, that is completely nuts. Kindergarten was the last year they did that here. When I went back to work, my son had to walk home two blocks by himself (well with other kids in the neighborhood) when he was 8. I could not have worked otherwise. He walked home to his dad who was sleeping due to the night shift and we got him a phone in case he needed to call. I had just bought her a phone so she could call me when she got off the bus or to let us know if they were late. That seemed like a reasonable solution to me. |
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Post by melanell on Sept 4, 2016 15:03:49 GMT
I have no idea if there are any rules or guidelines in our district. There were none when I was a child---back then I walked home from the school, forget about a bus.  But my children go to an elementary school that is in a rural area, and because of that, bus stops are the ends of each child's driveway. The roads are not really safe for walking--for anyone in some cases, and the homes can be very far apart. If my son was dropped at the end of my street, for instance, he'd have to walk 2 miles to get home. So it's a non-issue for us. And by Middle School there are no such concerns. Now, I do know that we parents of the rural kids do not have to be outside in the drive waiting for the kids. But the bus does wait to see the kids either meet an adult or enter the home (if the home is visible). So I guess in the cases of a home that is not visible from the road, the parents may be asked to have someone out there. (Although I have been behind school vans that simply drove down long driveways---but I can't see an actual bus doing that.) SaveSave |
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Post by maryland on Sept 4, 2016 15:16:51 GMT
My daughters, and other girls and boys in our neighborhood have gotten on and off the bus by themselves since 2nd grade. We live in a neighborhood with sidewalks and it has never been a problem. Sometimes the parents go to the bus stop to socialize. There are several stops in the neighborhood, so the kids don't have to walk far.
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Post by mrsscrapdiva on Sept 4, 2016 15:38:08 GMT
There are no rules.
The students can take the bus after a two week wait in Kindergarten and then all the way up to 5th grade (elementary school). Then there is another bus for middle school and another one for high school. They get on the bus themselves and off the bus themselves. The driver is simply driving the bus, keeping them under control and dropping them off in the right place. We do not have monitors.
There is a boy and his sister that live at the bottom of the street (not visible from the bus stop) and they walk home and stay home alone everyday. They have been doing this since they were in 2nd and 4th grade.
They will drop off a kindergartener at the end of the street and not worry anything after that. No parents/guardians need to be at the bus stop for any of the children.
I am a sahm, so I am at the bus stop or the end of my driveway (bus stop is 2 houses away) so I see everyone. In June, the 5 yr old got off without her sister. I asked her where the sister was and she said sick and at her grandmas. Little 5 yr old then said no one was home and she had no idea where to go. Luckily I had the mom's cell and after about a 1/2 hr I got a call back that she was supposed to be at another neighbors house after the bus.
We live in a city. Our school has 2 buses but there are 14 elementary schools and the larger ones have 11 buses. We have to go online to see when the bus arrival time is. They don't even post the drop off times anymore. They used to send cards in the mail but I guess they stopped that now. |
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IAmUnoriginal
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Post by IAmUnoriginal on Sept 4, 2016 15:41:32 GMT
Kindergarteners are the only ones required to be met at the bus stop here. They wear a lanyard on the bus with their bus number, home address and a list of people approved to meet them at the stop. The driver will check ID if she doesn't recognize you. After kindergarten, kids can walk from their stop to their houses by themselves. It's never longer than a block away. The policy you're dealing with seems excessive.
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breetheflea
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Post by breetheflea on Sept 4, 2016 15:42:38 GMT
Here only kindergartener's have to have a parent waiting at the bus stop. That being said my 6th grader just started taking the bus to middle school and so far I've walked her to the bus stop and home all 3 days... the stop is actually really close but since we live on a cul de sac she has to walk around the corner and down the next street to get there. I would actually like her to take herself to the bus stop but so far she is not embarassed to have mom at the bus stop (none of the other 7 kids at the stop (6-8th grade) have moms waiting).
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Post by littlemama on Sept 4, 2016 18:15:20 GMT
Kindergartners have to be met at the bus stop by a designated person. Beyond that, I don't think they do.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2016 18:37:46 GMT
From what I've seen in my neighborhood, elementary goes up to 4th grade and nearly all kids have an adult meeting them. Middle school starts at 5th and there are rarely any adults at the bus stop near my house before or after unless it's raining or freezing. Since I drove my kids to elementary (charter school with no bus), I don't know what our district's policy is officially. Judging by the swarm of parents and cars that converge on the corner of my street where the stop is, I'm going to assume all kids have to have someone meeting them up to 4th grade. I didn't hear anything about needing to meet them in middle school.
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katybee
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Post by katybee on Sept 4, 2016 19:28:54 GMT
I asked this question a while back. My third grader wants to walk to and from the bus stop alone and I don't feel ready for that. The pea consensus was that it seems early too. Wow. I must have missed that thread. Where I live, third graders regularly walk home from SCHOOL alone (or with groups of friends). Bus stops are generally with in a BLOCK of kids' homes, so that's even closer. I can't imagine not letting your 3rd grader walk home from the bus stop alone. I just read a blog post about "free-range" parenting and how it's pretty much just what normal parenting was when we were kids. We baby kids too much! (It's funny that I think we are making them grow up too fast in some areas--but in some areas I think it's ridiculous how much we hold them back). Do you (and I mean Peas that feel the same) let your kids walk to and from neighborhood friends' houses alone? I get the world is a scary place--but research shows there actually aren't more scary people. It's just media and movies have made it seem like there are. Couldnt you just put some common sense rules in place? Stay with friends. Walk straight home. Don't talk to strangers... We need to teach our kids how to be more independent! (I get there can be exceptions to this--but in normal, safe neighborhoods--this should be he norm). |
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Post by threecs on Sept 4, 2016 19:51:00 GMT
My kids were able to get off the bus by themselves in Kindergarten, and I didn't have to be out waiting for them. Granted, the bus stopped right in front of my house so they just got off and went straight inside.
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Sept 4, 2016 20:00:09 GMT
I think grade 3/4 is a bit young. I'm considering letting my older dd - going into grade 6 - start this half way through the year.
But where we live it can get dark around 4 in the winter. So weather has something to do with my opinion.
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Post by secondlife on Sept 4, 2016 20:08:53 GMT
I asked this question a while back. My third grader wants to walk to and from the bus stop alone and I don't feel ready for that. The pea consensus was that it seems early too. Wow. I must have missed that thread. Where I live, third graders regularly walk home from SCHOOL alone (or with groups of friends). Bus stops are generally with in a BLOCK of kids' homes, so that's even closer. I can't imagine not letting your 3rd grader walk home from the bus stop alone. I just read a blog post about "free-range" parenting and how it's pretty much just what normal parenting was when we were kids. We baby kids too much! (It's funny that I think we are making them grow up too fast in some areas--but in some areas I think it's ridiculous how much we hold them back). Do you (and I mean Peas that feel the same) let your kids walk to and from neighborhood friends' houses alone? I get the world is a scary place--but research shows there actually aren't more scary people. It's just media and movies have made it seem like there are. Couldnt you just put some common sense rules in place? Stay with friends. Walk straight home. Don't talk to strangers... We need to teach our kids how to be more independent! (I get there can be exceptions to this--but in normal, safe neighborhoods--this should be he norm). I had a couple reasons I'm not fully ready to have her walk by herself. It's a long block to the bus stop and there will be many days she's the only one on her bus (she goes to a magnet program and there are only a couple kids in our neighborhood). So she would not have anyone else around most days if she was walking by herself - no crossing guards or other parents or other kids. And it will be close to 5pm when she gets off the bus some days, and it's nearly dark by then in the winter. I let her walk to a friend's house but I have a direct line of sight from my house to the friend's house and have visual confirmation that I know exactly where she is. She is 8, so it's not like I am sending her off to college next week not knowing how to navigate on her own. It's not really about scary people and more about my own comfort level. We do lots of things that require independence, I'm just not sure that we are at the point yet where I will have her walk to and from alone. I feel that parents should make the best decision they can with the information they have available and THAT is what I think should be the norm. |
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Post by librarylady on Sept 4, 2016 20:52:37 GMT
I am unaware of any rule in Texas about this.
Our son walked to school for his elementary years (grades 1-6). It is about 4 blocks.
When he went to MS, we were not far enough away for the bus, but it was too far to walk and we set up a carpool.
High school (grade 9-12) he walked about 3 blocks to the bus stop. He walked to/from alone.
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Dalai Mama
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Post by Dalai Mama on Sept 4, 2016 21:38:32 GMT
I live in a large metropolis so no bussing but my youngest son was walking to and from school a km on his own in grade 4.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Sept 5, 2016 0:12:01 GMT
I think grade 3/4 is a bit young. I'm considering letting my older dd - going into grade 6 - start this half way through the year. But where we live it can get dark around 4 in the winter. So weather has something to do with my opinion. This is our situation too, plus we have no sidewalks in our neighborhood and the kids would have to walk in the icy street. |
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Post by beepdave on Sept 5, 2016 1:12:28 GMT
Our school district believes no child should be on/off the bus alone through fifth grade and offer before/after care at the school. The bus used to drop the kids off at the upper elementary school where the program is held. My son has attended that program since the summer before Kindergarten. He is in 6th grade this year and we had to sign a permission slip to let him off the bus without us there (and he is dropped off at our house.) The driver waits for son to get in the door before she drives off. We bought a keyless entry doorknob to speed up his entry into the house. It has worked beautifully this week.
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Post by meridon on Sept 5, 2016 1:23:52 GMT
What?! That's ridiculous! By 4th grade, they should be perfectly fine getting on and off the bus by themselves. If an individual child has an issue where his/her parents aren't comfortable with that,, then they need to be in carpool instead, but to require it is way overkill in my opinion.
Here, kids are given a bus ticket to give to the driver to use for the first day of school only, to make sure that they get on the right bus. After that, no one is required to be at the bus stop with them. My 6, 8 and 10 year olds all walk themselves to and from the bus stop both before and after school. A few caveats--I'm home in the morning until after their buses come (oldest DD rides a bus to the intermediate school and DS and youngest DD ride the same bus to the elementary school). So, if the bus was ever really late or there was a problem, they could come get me. It's about four houses down from our house and I do have a clear line of sight out the front door to the bus stop. It's also a dead end street. DH is home in the afternoon when they get off the bus, but he's in the house, not actually waiting at the stop. I live in a suburban neighborhood about 4 miles from their schools. I guess I can see if the bus stops were on a very busy road or in a neighborhood where I thought there might be a safety concern, there might be different rules. But to me, this is teaching them to be responsible. You get yourself on the bus on time or else have to do the walk of shame back home and there will be consequences!!!
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