We would like my oldest son to take the bus to his high school. His school is less than 1 mile away, but you have to cross a 4 lane busy road that doesn't have a cross walk and there are not any sidewalks, so we get the bus.
First Student used a new mapping software this year and it has been a disaster! First his bus came at 6:59 (school starts at 7:20) and they were getting to school seconds before the bell rang. Then at the end of the first week, they changed it to 6:50, then they changed it again to 6:40.
Well, it never comes on time! He goes out there, waits until 6:50 and then walks back home and I drive him. The schedule that's posted on line is totally messed up, it says it takes 6 minutes to drive down a street that has 10 houses! I've called the school. They asked the bus company to do a time study (have the driver call it at each stop so they can time it). Then I call the bus company, they didn't do the time stop and they told me to have him out there at 6:30 and the bus will come between 6:30-6:40. I find that unacceptable, the bus is on a schedule and should show up within a few minutes of the scheduled time, not 10 minutes. That's a long time to be standing out there and the bus stop is around the corner from my house.
Yes, I could drive him every day, but my other kids take a bus a little later and when I drive the older one, the other kids are messing around and then when I get back there's lots of yelling to get them ready since they have been goofing off. They didn't take their shower or pack their lunch or pack up their backpack or they are fighting, you get the picture.
Any suggestions on how to fix this? Do I just suck it up and drive? I can't find anyone in the neighborhood to carpool with, they just want to drive their own kids. I've even looked for an upperclassman to take him, but there aren't any.
Thanks!
M.
I am too the only way to deal with it is to put pressure on the school district and bus company. I end up having to wait anywhere between 10-45 minutes to get my son off the bus. It is just ridiculous but I don't have the option to drive him currently as I busted my foot. I'm just going to keep complaining until this squeaky wheel gets greased properly.
We had the same problem with my daughter's bus. The bus would pick up at the DesPlaines Metra station and take the kids to Loyola high school in Wilmette. It hardly ever was on time and her 1st period teacher was not very understanding. I ended up calling him and telling him if he had a problem he should call the bus company. The problem never got worked out and my husband ended up driving her every day which was 30 minutes out of his way and she had to get to school an hour early. I wish you luck and hope this all works out better for you.
How does your son feel about this? If he doesn't mind waiting then settle on the bus until you have fought it out with the bus co. Of course I never knew a teenager who wanted to get up earlier than they had to and yet most teenagers don't want their parents near them for more than a second., So...I drove mine anyway just to get them to school and don't regret it. We lived really close, but it was the last time in life I'd get a one on one with that child. I treasured it especially when my son went in the service.
