Oh hell no! WWYD?

[glitzy07]

Before I write this out, there is nothing I can (or should) do about this situation.  It just got me fired up and I wondered what you would do if this was you?

Long story still kind of long: Our in-home daycare provider watches a child who goes to pre-school a few days a week and he is bussed to and from her house.  On the days he goes, she is expected to be at the end of her cul-de-sac to pick him up when the bus drops off at 3:14, or the bus won't drop the child at this age.  She has a helper (her neighbor) who watches the kids while she picks him up from the bus.  Yesterday she went down at her normal time (between 3:05-3:10), and the bus never came.  She called the school and eventually found out that the bus driver said she wasn't at the stop and so he kept going.  The kid was bussed to another school and expected to be picked up.  She was on the phone with the school when H picked up C last night.  

When I arrived to drop C off this morning, I overheard her talking to the kid's dad about the whole thing.  Apparently the person she was talking to on the phone from the school actually said to her, "Look, it's not my problem that you are an incompetent parent who wasn't there to pick up your kid on time."  HOLY HELL.

WWYD in this situation if you were her?

I told her she needed to burn that place to the ground.  lol  I said that if I were her, I would be speaking to that person's supervisor and would continue up the ladder until that person was reprimanded in some appropriate way (I don't know what that is, but you know what I mean).  You cannot seriously work for an elementary school and think it's ok to tell a parent that they are incompetent.  

Daycare provider was thinking she would kill with kindness and send a letter to the school for the person she spoke with to explain that maybe they got off on the wrong foot and that she'd make sure she was down to the bus at 3:00 instead.  Um, no.

So, for curiosity sake, WWYD?  

[ECB]

Why kill w/ kindness AND why now offer to be at the stop at 3?? WTF? That person needs to know they were totally in the WRONG for saying what they said. And if the bus is supposed to get there at 3:14 - being at the stop by 3:05/3:10 should be sufficient. If the bus actually got there before 3:05, that's on the bus driver for being way too early. She can't stand out there all afternoon.

[ECB]

May 27, 2015 7:43:32 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

Honestly, I hate the whole bus stop thing because timing out a bus route is not a science. There are way too many factors that can make the bus earlier or later than the time.

This is very true - but I've noticed our bus, if anything, is always LATE.  Late is fine - if the parents are out there, they'll be there if it's late.

Clearly showing up early - possibly TEN minutes - is an issue.  But maybe that's not the drivers fault.  Maybe traffic was amazingly light that day and I wouldn't be surprised if there are rules about pulling over and just waiting while still having kids on the bus.  

So... who knows.  I'd want to find out, though, what exactly happened and what time the driver says they were there.  

[Deleted]

May 27, 2015 7:43:32 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

I mean, I feel like it's not her place to rip up the school, because it's not HER kid. She is the sitter.... So I can understand her take on it.

I think the parents need to be the ones to light it up.



Honestly, I hate the whole bus stop thing because timing out a bus route is not a science. There are way too many factors that can make the bus earlier or later than the time. and is the bus supposed to sit and wait for 10 minutes for the parent (sitter) to wait at the bus stop? Because that would be messing up other traffic, right?!

They said it to her HER. She was in charge of the kid at the time. 

I'd be burning it down and would hope the parents would do the same. 

I've been in 3 districts in 13 years and I've seen my share of sh*tty attitude bus drivers and transportation directors. It can get bad. Really bad. 

I do agree with you on the bus route thing though. It is definitely not a science. 

[anna7602]

Where I live, the school and the bus are two completely separate entities. When thugs with the bus are messed up, I have to call this very Orwellian-like institution where it takes forever to get a person on the phone and where I am assigned a "case number" for any complaint (like the bus not showing up at all due to inclement weather, even if schools are open). The person who gives me my case number never demonstrates any sympathy or anything at all. He/she may as well be a computer.

Anyway, the school itself may not be the place to burn down. And the bus admin group may be so big that they won't honestly GAF if someone complains about a rude comment.

[6fsn]

I have two separate issues I'd deal with.

1) what time was the bus there? What should happen if it's early? How long should the driver wait? We are asked to be at the stop 5 minutes prior to pick up. I don't know what happens if the bus gets there before that window because it's never happened. Our bussing is handled by a different department from the school so I'd call them and figure out what happened and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. Kindness would probably be the route here.

2) How the woman on the phone handled that situation was completely inappropriate. I'd ask to speak to her supervisor to tell them what was said. This would be factual, but certainly not kind.

[Deleted]

May 27, 2015 7:51:10 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Where I live, the school and the bus are two completely separate entities. When thugs with the bus are messed up, I have to call this very Orwellian-like institution where it takes forever to get a person on the phone and where I am assigned a "case number" for any complaint (like the bus not showing up at all due to inclement weather, even if schools are open). The person who gives me my case number never demonstrates any sympathy or anything at all. He/she may as well be a computer.

Anyway, the school itself may not be the place to burn down. And the bus admin group may be so big that they won't honestly GAF if someone complains about a rude comment.

True. 

Glitzy and I are from the same general area and most buses here are either district owned with a school paid director or the school leases the buses from a private company, but there still is a main contact at the school for problems. Some of the bigger districts do the city bus system, but that's a whole another ball of wax.

[glitzy07]

May 27, 2015 7:43:32 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

I mean, I feel like it's not her place to rip up the school, because it's not HER kid. She is the sitter.... So I can understand her take on it.

I think the parents need to be the ones to light it up.



Honestly, I hate the whole bus stop thing because timing out a bus route is not a science. There are way too many factors that can make the bus earlier or later than the time. and is the bus supposed to sit and wait for 10 minutes for the parent (sitter) to wait at the bus stop? Because that would be messing up other traffic, right?!

I definitely agree that the bus thing is not a science.  Daycare provider lives right down the road from the school (I'd say less than a mile), so I'm guessing the bus was earlier than she was and didn't wait.  From what I can tell, they haven't had the issue all year long and there are only a couple of weeks left of school at this point.  But that's neither here nor there.

I would still burn it down if I was her, specifically because the person spoke to me like that and not the parents.  That said, I would also expect that the parents would be making calls of their own as well to deal with the timing issues and understand what the expectations are.

[heygrey]

my mom drives school bus and she has to wait for a parent to be out at certain stops. if she's early, she pulls over for a few minutes to get herself on schedule. some parents are racing home to meet the bus and those 5 minutes make a world of difference.

and I'm LOLing at anyone in the transportation office calling a parent/care provider incompetent. they might think it, but they'd never voice it because it would cost them their job.

I wouldn't light the place on fire immediately, but I'd get there if no one took my complaint (about being called incompetent) seriously.

[specialk]

No. Fuck no. Burn it down and salt the earth.

I would not settle down until I had an apology and the employee was reprimanded.

[bullsgirl]

That employee was extremely rude, and should not have spoken to them that way.

That being said, as a school administrator we deal with kids being brought back to school because nobody was at the bus stop all the time, and its really annoying. The buses have 2 more runs to make after they do our drop offs, so someone has to come pick the kids up. The bus circling back around is not an option. I don't think any of our buses have EVER been early, so I am suspicious of that.

[Deleted]