Not a good sign

[pipsqueak]

Apparently the district admin listened to the teacher as I had a missed call/voicemail saying that Pip should be set up for AM bus service on 9/25. Hopefully, we get good morning drivers like we did last school year and the rest of the year goes smoothly and without further incident.

[pipsqueak]

Thinking about it, if I knew then what I know now, I would have requested Pip's teacher to switch his class time to match the bus schedule back in early August.

[freezorburn]

Fingers crossed that the new bus service goes smoothly!

So, you just have next week that you need to get him there on your own?

[pipsqueak]

Yes, however, Monday and Tuesday are not school days and he has therapy scheduled on Thursday, so I really only have 2 more days of driving him.

[pipsqueak]

Well, they were able to start the new bus service today. We shall see how it goes this time. Bus was later than what the letter said but right on time based on last year's pick up time.

[freezorburn]

Hope things went smoothly for the return trip!

[pipsqueak]

The drop off driver was the same driver he had for a pick up driver before the whole mess started.

I commented that we switched to the morning class because of a few issues with transportation that all seemed to revolve around communication (or the lack of it) The bus driver responded there have been a number of parents that have complained about issues that arose from miscommunication/lack of communication.

Now, I just need the rest of the year to go smoothly.

[pipsqueak]

Bus arrived at 830 (different driver than Friday) yesterday morning. Driver claimed the kids wouldn't be late getting to school when I commented on the bus being late. Emailed ds's teacher just in case and asked to be notified when the bus arrived. Bus arrived at 856. Prek students are retrieved from the buses around 845.

Bus arrived right on time today.

[freezorburn]

Hope they can be consistent from here on out!

[pipsqueak]

Sept 27, 2017 23:40:40 GMT -5 freezorburn said:

Hope they can be consistent from here on out!

Today bus was on time.  We've had the same bus drivers the past couple of days, so hopefully that means all is well with transportation finally.

No school for Pip tomorrow as we might go out of town for my dad's mom's sister's funeral.  I'm debating if I want to take Pip and go to see extended family there or not.  It's one of those times where you'd attend the services for the living family members rather than for the person who died - if that makes sense.  Of the 12 kids of my great-grandparents, I only knew 6. Of those 6 I only liked 1 - and she's the last one living and she's not my grandmother. Those 12 children produced an interesting array of cousins though.

[freezorburn]

They do say that funerals are for the living.

I have found they make for interesting gatherings. If you end up going, I hope it is what you need it to be, and not too disruptive to Pip or what you need to do for your weekend. Sorry for your family's loss.

[pipsqueak]

We went. Pip did great - made a few people smile with his hearty applause when we finished singing a song - the family is best known for NOT being able to sing - when Grandma and her sisters would sing you needed ear plugs as they sounded that awful but they enjoyed it.

We saw cousins we wanted to see and a couple we didn't expect to see. My mom noticed something that I commented on after the family reunion last year. The bitterness and hatred between my Grandma and her sisters, especially toward my mom, died with that generation. Dad's cousins were genuinely happy to see us.

We drove past my Mom's parent's old home - it really is a strange feeling to return to a place that was once the home of your grandparents and where you have many happy memories yet now that your grandparents have died it's just another house.

[pipsqueak]

Since I have this thread here to track transportation issues for this school year, I'll just add the latest for the record.

End of last week, bus dispatch called to say they were having some kind of issue (I didn't fully understand) and they wouldn't be able to send a bus to pick up Pip until 930. I told them I would transport to school since I was getting ready to drop dh off anyway. I was happy they called and communicated the problem so I don't hold it against them at all.

Today, I put Pip on the bus at his normal time (810) and went back to bed for a bit. Checked email about 1030. First email from Pip's teacher is at 910 asking if he's been picked up yet. Second email is at 940 letting me know he arrived at 940. Bus usually arrives at 840.

Dh sent email to transportation director requesting an accounting of Pip's location during that hour and asking why neither the teacher nor us were notified of any delays/issues.

Giving transportation director 24 hours to respond before making any further decisions. Dh is ready to yank him out. He wasn't back this fall but he is now.

[freezorburn]

W.T.F.

[pipsqueak]

Banging my head on a brick wall over here.

So after 22 hours with no response to the email dh sent yesterday, I called in to transportation. Had to wait about 3 hours to get a call back from the supervisor.....to be told "The regular driver called in and sometimes it takes a while to find an available driver which results in a late pick up.". As soon as I said "No, he was picked up at normal time and it took an hour longer than normal to go from our house to the school and I want to know why and where he was during that hour." The supervisor couldn't get off the phone fast enough "I'll need to research further and call you back."

Told dh I'm not putting ds on the bus without resolution to this.

Will be back when there's more.

[pipsqueak]

As promised

I got the call back from the bus supervisor. He claimed that the driver got lost trying to find the 3rd bus stop (Pip is stop 2).

So many unanswered questions like how the F*ck do you get lost for an hour in this city? Why was there little to no contact between the bus and dispatch if the driver is lost?

Something doesn't add up. I feel like we're being fed a BS story.

Plan for tomorrow is I drop Pip off at school, double check a couple facts with the teacher and principal and then head down to the administration building for some answers.

Wish me luck. I'll be back after that trip sometime.

[freezorburn]

Good luck. I hope you get some answers!

[pipsqueak]

Day 3 update....

Dh and I got a call back from the transportation director. He confirmed that the incident on Wednesday was unacceptable by all standards. He is going to investigate a few points: 1. Procedure for the drivers to check in with dispatch at completion of the assigned route. If procedure exists, why did it not trigger dispatch to contact the driver. 2. Procedure for dispatch to notify the school - does it exist and is it followed. 3. Procedure for school to contact dispatch if a bus is not accounted for - if one exists is it being followed.

He is also going to be investigating why the staff member he delegated the email to never contacted us and why the bus showed up this morning even though I called in to cancel pickup.

He is to call back this evening with the results of his investigation. I do not believe anything happened beyond the driver's incompetent handling of getting lost on Wednesday so I'm not planning on pursuing videos etc. (Copied from a Facebook group that recommended demanding access to the bus video)

However, pending his handling of the matter, I will be sending a letter to the superintendent and potentially filing a formal written complaint with the state DoE.

Further decisions to be made later as well.

[pipsqueak]

School is claiming lack of memory to if anyone called dispatch/if dispatch called the school. Without definitive proof one way or the other the transportation director isn't willing to "throw the school under the bus" by saying procedures weren't followed. He did talk to the principal and get agreement on a plan for the school office to call dispatch whenever a bus is not there at morning bell - PreK staff is to notify the office immediately if a bus is not there when the teacher and Paras go out to unload the PreK students and the office will contact dispatch.

I'm going to leave things as they are currently - Pip riding the current bus to the current school and back for now. IF another break in communication occurs in the next 4ish months, then I will pull him immediately and deal with contacting the district later. We're not counting the bus showing up after we cancel pickup for the day as that's too minor to be more than a nuisance.

[freezorburn]

I applaud you for how methodical you are being in pushing for answers and accountability. I know that I would be livid if someone could not account for my child's whereabouts for an hour.

[pipsqueak]

The fact that the transportation director got to bear the brunt of my anger in the phone call this morning helped my mental health status.

We kept reminding him that it all comes down to the same communication failures that we complained about in September.

Knowing that we can legally pull Pip out at any moment we choose and being prepared to homeschool him has gone a long way to giving us a measure of peace and leverage that we might not have if homeschooling was not an option.

[pipsqueak]

This is humorous only because dh called in to dispatch to let them know Pip is sick and not attending school today.

At 7 and 730 we got automated messages stating that ds's bus was delayed and won't be arriving until after 930. At 1030 we got a message stating that due to inclement weather it would be after 10 before he'd be picked up.

At 1215 we got a call asking if Pip still needed to be picked up for school today. Mind you his class runs from about 845 to 1145 and he normally is dropped off between 1210 and 1220, plus us already having called in to cancel today's service.

[beachbum22]

I just got all caught up on your thread, pipsqueak, and even I can't deal. I am frustrated on your behalf. I mean, this isn't rocket science. How hard is it to coordinate pickups?? Unless they are extremely understaffed/overworked in the office, I don't understand how crap like this keeps happening.

[pipsqueak]

I sent an email to the transportation director regarding the phone call - as an "FYI - you need to know about this" kind of thing. I told him I could find humor in today's SNAFU only because Pip was sick.

Dh wants me to allow Pip to do summer school. I finally gave in but added the condition that summer school had to be at the neighborhood school. I refuse to deal with transportation any longer than I have to at this point.

[freezorburn]

Who the heck is running the show over there?

[pipsqueak]

The clowns maybe

[pipsqueak]

So to add to the list.....

Since Pip is usually picked up between 8 and 810, I figured scheduling a doctor appointment at 845 on a warm, dry sunny day would be safe.

Plan was to put Pip on the bus, drop dh off at work on my way to the dr.

Transportation sends us a notices that Pip's bus would not be arriving until between 845 and 930. Grrr. Okay, so we plan to have dh stay home with Pip while I go to my Dr appointment. Then we get a phone call that the bus would be arriving after 930.

At 905, dh goes to change Pip's poopy diaper and Right after he removed the dirty diaper but before he could clean Pip up, the doorbell rings. He plops Pip down on the potty chair hoping he'd stay put, answers the door and tells the bus driver to wait a few for a diaper change.

Dh goes back to the bathroom to find a large chunk of poop in the middle of the bathroom floor, Pip making a mess of the potty chair, poop on Pip's socks. He takes him back to the bedroom to finish the diaper change and Pip shoves a basket of clean clothes on to the floor and then kicks 2 prefolds - including the soiled one dh was using as a change mat - behind the dresser then just as dh got done cleaning Pip's bum, Pip knocks the water bottle behind the dresser too. Dh finally gets Pip cleaned, diapered, and dressed, out the door and on to the bus and then I pulled up just in time to go help him clean up the mess in the house.

Let's just say dh was wishing the bus had come at 8 like it was supposed to.

[freezorburn]

Oh, wow.

All I have to say is, that’s one of those experiences I wish my XH had had, so maybe he would appreciate how hard my job was.

You guys make a good team!

[atlas]

This showed up on the most recent page. And I must say, I am now invested in this. The incompetence is absolutely crazy!

[pipsqueak]

Well today the bus was 1.5 hours late in picking up Pip.

Sent email to transportation director requesting that starting on 3/19/18 (first day of school after spring break) that the transportation plan be changed to parent provided (with reimbursement) for drop off and bus return after school. I also requested he email me with alternatives if that arrangement is not possible since parent provided with reimbursement both ways is not feasible with our schedules.

I let the transportation director know that transportation has denied Pip access to a minimum of 2.5 of 6 hours in just the last 2 days.

I'll be back with further updates as they happen.