May

22

School Bus Status Quo

Posted by Summer M

May 22, 2008 |

I was surprised at the responses the last post solicited! In addition to the comments here on the blog, I received phone calls, emails, and instant messages. Thank you all for your concern for Captain Awesome. His demeanor has changed dramatically since I started driving him and, alas, so has my fuel budget. It is worth it, though, to have my bright eyed boy back instead of the sullen son I’d become accustomed to seeing everyday after school.

Captain Awesome has since decided that if homeschooling means giving up the chess club and the year-end game of Wizard’s Chess, he doesn’t want to do it. Not yet, anyway. He just wants me to drive him. I’m afraid that he is in for a big surprise when I put him back on the bus next year. The new middle school opens next year, though, and all the bigger kids (this year’s fourth graders and older) will be on entirely different buses and schedules. Then again, he might just get his cake and eat it, too. I’m extremely unhappy with the bus system right now (don’t hear that as ‘unhappy with the drivers and garage managers, cause I’m getting to know them and they’re pretty cool).

Homeschooling remains an option, of course, but perhaps just not quite yet. The Admiral and I both believe that, ultimately, Captain Awesome does well in the public school system. We are terribly involved in the whole education process, though, and are able to keep close tabs on what goes on for the most part. We did our homework before buying our house and this school system is why we moved clear out here away from most of our friends. So far, it is paying off.

Buses are another story. In fact, let’s talk about buses for a minute. If there is someone out there who is on a school board, a city transportation board, or is a lawyer and understands the reasons behind this logic then puh-lease enlighten us!

Why is it that our schools can afford laptops for classrooms, large and elaborate sports complexes, theaters and enormous choral and band budgets, and still have no seatbelts on the buses? When the bus systems were first designed in the days of our parents it was acceptable to drive around with your children lying in the rear window sunning themselves atop the back seat. Now? We are pulled over and ticketed if we have a child under the age of 12 that is not in a booster seat and buckled up. We are ticketed if anyone is not buckled up. Hypocritical much? I should say so.

Every time I broach the subject, someone tells me that seatbelts in buses have legal ramifications. Belts on buses = monitors on buses. My automatic reaction?

Alright! Now we’re getting somewhere!

But we don’t have the money to hire monitors.

Why not use the PTSA to rally volunteers? I know I’m not alone in this.

Training volunteers is too expensive.

Are you kidding me?

We don’t have the money to develop curriculum or the facilities to train them.

So that big huge building that some call a school is for what? NOT educating people?

Curriculum isn’t that difficult to develop. Honestly, it could be based loosely on the same principles of Crew Resource Management that the airlines use. I know someone who has volunteered to adapt it for this school district. *growls*

Anyway, back on the subject of seatbelts. The baby boomers grew up sans seat belts, in many ways I think they were okay with their children going to and from school without them. Gen X grew up attending safety classes and having ‘Click It or Ticket’ campaigns shoved down our throats. How long are we going to accept the status quo and allow them (the bean counters, that is) to continue shipping our children like cattle?

Point of interest: The preschooler bus has five point harnesses for every child below 40 inches and 40 pounds. They also have a regular, paid monitor.

In this day when oil prices are on the rise, it is especially important that we take advantage of public transportation where we can. School buses absolutely make sense (I can hear my fellow geeks chiding me right now with Only the Sith deal in absolutes!) but not in their current state. If I have to choose between a safe commute and a cheap one, guess which one wins?

By the way, the next person that lectures me on the legal ramifications of school buses should do so carefully, bearing in mind that before Captain Awesome and Trooper could set foot on a bus I had to sign a waiver releasing the school from responsibility of injury.

I remember a few years back there was a bus with on-board cameras that crashed. If you’ve never seen the footage, it is disturbing. I found the footage on YouTube but can’t figure out how to post it here. I’ll link it but do not watch THIS VIDEO if you are faint of heart. It clearly depicts the inside of a school bus during a crash. (I wonder if they could have afforded seatbelts for the money they spent on on-board cameras?)

After writing this rant and watching that video far too many times, I began searching online for an organized group actively lobbying for seatbelts on school buses. I only found one: these guys. Do you know how many groups I found lobbying for ‘greener’ school buses? I was appalled. I am becoming more and more aware of my own family’s ‘footprint’ (and taking steps to lessen it) but let’s get our priorities straight, people! Seat belts, then emissions. Kthxbye.


Comments

4 Comments so far

  1. Stephen on May 22, 2008 4:37 pm

    Personally, I don’t agree with any of the seat belt legislation out there. That said, it is somewhat hypocritical of government to not include themselves in this asinine law.

    But, hypocrisy is what our government is best at so…

  2. Christopher Waldrop on May 22, 2008 4:44 pm

    I’m as green as the next guy (maybe greener–my recycle bin seems to be the only one on the block that’s overflowing) but I still put seat belts as a higher priority than greener buses. Parents were talking about seat belts on buses when I was in school. I won’t say how long that’s been–let’s just say it’s measurable in decades. What’s wrong with administrators? It was bad enough that my bus was so crowded I had to ride sometimes standing in the aisle.

  3. Commander Mommy on May 22, 2008 7:14 pm

    What is wrong with the administrations? It can be measured in dollar signs. If we actually went through with it and cut funding to extra curriculars for a short term (it is possible to do this without sacrificing quality, if you have a wise board who plans for it), then having seat belts on buses means that seating would be cut from three students per seat to two. That would require larger transportation fleets, more drivers, and the addition of monitors on all grade-school buses because, let’s face it, grade schoolers are going to need help with seat belts from time to time and certainly in an emergency.

    Wow, that was a run-on sentence.

  4. Carolyn on May 29, 2008 7:56 am

    Well, I have struggled with what to say without going on and on… My son is 12 and when in kindergarten, was on a bus with kids up to high school age… He came home daily with a new bruise from the bus as the driver does not take any responsibility to watch the kids. Reports come from parents whose kids came home and told them what happened, then those parents call the school and complain. The funding issue isn’t resticted to the seat belts on buses, either. It is in ever aspect up the public education system. The only parents without complaints on this issue are the parents whose kids have no problems, get good grades and love school and their teachers. If you don’t fall into this category (and there are A LOT of us) then there is a problem… Ok, I will stop now, Chopperpop knows “…the rest of the story”. You and the boys are in my thoughts and I empathize greatly with you!

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

<< Post Navigation >>

« « I miss the bad old days… | Unintentional Lessons » »