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largebus
Advanced Member
USA
468 Posts |
 Posted - 11/10/2001 : 1:01:13 PM
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How many kids are eligible to receive door to door service? What factors determine this? Do you personally feel you are catering to lazy parents or kids? In one area of our district a driver dropped a kid off at a house, skipped a driveway and dropped another kid off at the next house. Sounds like an abuse of privlages.
"Getting them there is half the battle" |
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MamaLoca
Advanced Member
USA
400 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2001 : 1:51:10 PM
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Our K-garteners get door to door service as do the students who live in rural areas without sidewalks.
Within the city limits and most of the area subdivisions the majority of students have to walk to a designated stop. We also have some private roads with several houses along them, these students have to walk to the end of the private road.
I get paid whether I stop once of five times so I'll do what the district wants, but I do see that it would cost more to pick them up individually.
Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to. |
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2001 : 2:24:02 PM
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The only kids that get door to door service in our district are those that are medically fragile, or have other ailments requiring this service. We require a Doctor to state point blank all the "whys and where fors" so its harder to get than you might think. We have a staff member at the IEP meetings to ensure that we aren't going to be required to do anything unecessary due to someones laziness.
Joe
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Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member
USA
4177 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2001 : 07:13:41 AM
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MamaLoca summed it up pretty well for us. Most people here get door to door service unless you can walk safely to a group busstop. Like dirt roads you may have to walk to a group bus stop. Me, I get door to door service because I'm the only one in this particular area, although I do have to a walk for a bit. Up my driveway. 
Bye! 
Stop at: www.buses.cjb.net |
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cowlitzcoach
Advanced Member
USA
325 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2001 : 08:25:08 AM
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Door-to-door service has more to do with geography and handicapping condition than almost anything else.
In regards to geography, in rural areas, the kids are most likely having to walk down long driveways just to get to the bus stop. If they are able to walk, we are not obligated to go up a road that is not a county road. For some of those kids, instead of walking, they might show up at the bus stop on their bike or ATV.
For kids with some sort of handicapping condition, their bus stop and transportation options most likely will be spelled out in their IEP. That is if the IEP is written properly.
In urban and suburban areas, most stops are centrally located in order to reduce the number of stops as long as the walking distances and walking areas are safe.
Sometimes stops are changed due to complaints the kids are causing problems or because some parent makes a big stink. For the most part most kids do not get door-to-door service.
Mark O.
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BusBoy
Top Member
USA
2042 Posts |
Posted - 11/15/2001 : 05:14:07 AM
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In Indianapolis Public Schools,
We only pick up children with Special Needs or Special Ed, and also Kindergartener's.
Edited by - BUSBOY on 11/15/2001 05:19:25 AM |
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newbeetlebugblue2000
Advanced Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2001 : 09:35:18 AM
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In my school district, if you live in the country or in a big housing development, you get door to door service. If you live in town and not in a big neighborhood, and you are in middle school or even high school, you are to wait at the elementary school to catch your bus. If you are in elementary school, you just walk to to school if you live in town. We have a system called dual bussing which I've been against since day one where the elementary schools start an hour after middle and high school and end an hour after middle and high school end.
Ryan Lane
NewBeetleBugBlue2000@yahoo.com |
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Skip
Senior Member
USA
72 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2001 : 11:24:55 AM
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Door to door service seems to be a debate in every district. Iam in district that in the 70's had 1400 student's. At that time I was an elementary student in this district. We were "double tripped" the high school was picked up first at . Than a second bus came around to pick up the elementary. As the population dwindled after the mines closed everyone was picked up at the same time.It seems like the less student's we have the more "door to door" servise we do. I started working here in 1988 right after graduation. the in rolement was around 700. Now after 13 years and the paper mill closing we started school this year with 315 students. Ironicly the parent's who boast about having to walk two streets over or to the end of a dead end road to catch the bus are the same parent's who want there child picked up at the front door.
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2001 : 12:51:52 PM
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quote:
How many kids are eligible to receive door to door service? What factors determine this? Do you personally feel you are catering to lazy parents or kids? In one area of our district a driver dropped a kid off at a house, skipped a driveway and dropped another kid off at the next house. Sounds like an abuse of privlages.
"Getting them there is half the battle"
I don't know about abuse of privileges but what you described creates a serious safety issue. Buses with stops too close together need to be extra alert. As mentioned to me in this forum, some motorists have a tendency to zoom around buses between stops. Placing the stops too near each other can create an obvious hazard.
I agree fully with Wagonmaster and Mark O.(jk)
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Bus Boy 39
Top Member
USA
1315 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2001 : 03:27:20 AM
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The only students that get door-to-door service in our district are ones who live on back roads and the houses are far apart.
Also, special ed students get droped off at their front porch, so if a sp.ed student has a long driveway up to their house, the driver has to wonder that bus up there.
"Gotta Love Those Birdies!" |
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Dr. Ray Turner
Active Member
USA
46 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2001 : 7:48:43 PM
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Our district provides door-to-door services for very few special needs students including the autistic student (runners), deaf-blind, blind or visually impaired students (some do, some don't), the medically fragile (with nurse who provides service through the door into the home for those very few) and for Pre-K students or PPCD (special education Pre-K students). Not all Pre-K students are provided door-to-door services. One student is determined for that level of service at a time.
Remember--the legal obligation of every building principal starts at the door jam of every student in his school and ends with the doorway at the end of the day. That doesn't mean we advocate or use door-to-door service for everyone by any means. Yet it does remind us that we must care for every child's safety especially those students with special needs whose IEP Committee has specified door-to-door service. Few committees do specify that for their student with disabilities.
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MamaLoca
Advanced Member
USA
400 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2001 : 09:51:41 AM
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quote:
Remember--the legal obligation of every building principal starts at the door jam of every student in his school and ends with the doorway at the end of the day.
First off, which Door Jamb do you refer to, the school, the bus, or the Students own house? I'll asume the student's own house.
As a busdriver I never thought of it in those terms. I only know my own level of responsiblity. I would think that your responsibility is at the same level or greater than the Drivers but I don't know through what authority.
The law holds the School Bus Driver legally responsible for the "care and custody" of students on their bus.
It's nice to realize we're not alone but I've been in the situation of not being able to contact principles during a bus ride after school hours.
Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to.
http://www.canandaiguaschools.org/bus/ |
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Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member
USA
4177 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2001 : 12:01:37 PM
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Hey, is it common for buses to go into someone's driveway? Down the road from me, there's a house with a very short driveway and they have a PreK child there. The little Thomas Minotour goes there everyday. Pulls into the driveway, drops the kid off, then backs out. Is this very common? I've also seen larger buses go into driveways if it was a spec needs student.
Stop at: www.buses.cjb.net |
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newbeetlebugblue2000
Advanced Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2001 : 07:33:38 AM
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The BusBoy,
It is very common for a school bus to go into someone's driveway in my district. We have one girl who used to ride our bus, she is by no means a special needs student, she is a straight A student who needs no help in school. In the afternoon, the bus backed in her driveway all the way to her garage which was about a quarter of a mile long to drop her off. In the morning, she and her mom would wait at the end of the driveway in their gold BMW X5 for the bus.
Ryan Lane
NewBeetleBugBlue2000@yahoo.com |
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newbeetlebugblue2000
Advanced Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2001 : 08:48:38 AM
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Also, I have a short driveway and my bus backed into my driveway once to let my 5th grade cousin off the bus. I had my camera on hand that day and from my yard, I took a picture of the bus in my driveway! Awesome picture!
Ryan Lane
NewBeetleBugBlue2000@yahoo.com |
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Bus Boy 39
Top Member
USA
1315 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2001 : 11:54:24 AM
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We have quit a few drivers back into drive ways to turn around. They let the students off, hit the hazards, and back in.
"Gotta Love Those Birdies!" |
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2001 : 2:33:03 PM
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We aren't supposed to back up at all, but if we did, we would back up first, and THEN let the kids off! No sense asking for trouble.
Joe
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newbeetlebugblue2000
Advanced Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2001 : 07:11:18 AM
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That's what our bus does too. Reason I wasn't on it is, the elementary route is after my route, I had been dropped off about an hour and a half before my bus was in my driveway. Again, I got a good picture of my bus.
Ryan Lane
NewBeetleBugBlue2000@yahoo.com |
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kd4jfd
Top Member
USA
1170 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2001 : 5:21:03 PM
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My district's policy is that stops on the same road are to be at least 1/10 mi. apart, and to go down a road at least one stop has to be at least 3/10 mi, down the road. The exception to this is Sp. Ed. or Headstart students. Unfortunately, people complain, and our T/D makes us pick up perfectly healthy students at thier house. This is a problem for me, because one stop I have to back uphill and turn into a narrow driveway with deep ditches in the dark, and the people have an outside light situated where it reflects in my mirrors and fogged up windows an effectively blinds me, so I have to do it by feel.
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Nell65
Senior Member
USA
74 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2002 : 5:02:50 PM
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In the district that my kids are in, yes, there is a definate problem with door to door service. I was on the transportation advisory commitee and it was a big issue with us when setting up the transportation department policies.
In this district, it has 11,300 students and covers 120 miles daily, the policy is no student up to 5th grade shall walk more than 2/10 of a mile to a bus stop and 6th grade and up 1/2 mile. The buses now have to go into small cul-de-sacs because of this. I disagreed with this since I know how hard it is to turn a bus in some of these dead ends. Also they are now having to go into roads with very limited sight distance, it's an accident waiting to occur.
The other policy that we asked the school board to change was that children going to daycare centers should be transported in their home school's feeder pattern only. Instead, they now can go anywhere with in the 120 miles in the district to get picked up and dropped off at a daycare out of their established feeder pattern.
The parents definately are getting catered to in my district.
Nell
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largebus
Advanced Member
USA
468 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2002 : 3:54:43 PM
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One thing I can say though is we might now always say it but we REALLY appreciate it when you guys go the extra mile (pun intended) for us. It is a huge help to not walk so far so early. And especially for the little kids.
"If it's long, wide and high with wheels it's a bus. If it's yellow with black stripes it's a school bus" |
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MrBusDriver
Senior Member
USA
189 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2002 : 12:39:23 PM
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Kindergardeners, Preschoolers, students on an IEP or those outside the city limits are door to door stops. Regardless of suspect of abuse of priveledge, it's really for their own safety. It IS a hassle sometimes when you have to do the route (especially when I have to leave the office to drive it) but in the long run, those students are not able to, for one reason or another, walk for a long distance home.
Brian J. Whitta
FOSTORIA_BW@noeca.esu.k12.oh.us |
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Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member
USA
4177 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2002 : 5:13:44 PM
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Well, by the way you seem to not like door to door service, I guess my area would be considered rural. Most people here have door to door service unless they are in a subdivision or all in the same area. Our drivers have no problems with it.
Stop at: http://www.buses.cjb.net
Forums: http://thebusboy.proboards2.com |
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John Farr
Top Member
USA
642 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2002 : 5:08:56 PM
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It may sound like quibbling, but it may be better to use the term "Curb-to-curb." I know of one instance where a bus attendant had to be added to a route so she could escort a sped student right to the door in a large apartment complex. This happened after the parent complained about walking 300 feet to the drop-off point. She had her attorney threaten to sue and the district gave in.
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busdrivinwoman
Senior Member
USA
88 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2002 : 10:52:06 AM
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That may be alright if you have a bus attendant with you. I don't, so sorry to say to that parent, maybe she should be the one to walk the 300 feet to get her own child. I understand the importance of door to door service when a kindergarten is involved. But some of these parents take it to extremes. The same kids that I have to take to the door I have seen out playing 3 or 4 blocks away from home.
safety is number one, ohio school bus driver |
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Debusguy
Senior Member
USA
114 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2002 : 12:48:35 PM
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We are a transportation department of a rural school district (107 square miles) in SE Pennsylvania that is slowly becoming suburban (we'll be getting our first traffic light soon!), and it is ironic to me that owners of new tract-houses with sidewalks want their driveway as THE place for the stop to be - not the intersection two doors down..even though there are other children at the common stop. Meanwhile, some farm children walk about a 1/4 mile or more, especially if they live on a dirt road, which by school board ruling, we do not travel. The exasperating pattern that results in allowing these stops, of course, is that the children will wait until the last minute to leave the house, in order to keep warm, etc. Eventually, like the camel sticking his nose under the tent flap, it degenerates to the point where the mother appears at the door with her index finger in the air, directing us to wait, while the child is in the background with one shoe on, and scratching his head.
To try to 'nip this in the bud',we will give new kindergartners a home stop for their center-of-the-day bus route, and require a community stop in the morning or afternoon.
There are always exceptions..you have to balance the safety of the child's walk to & from the stop, against the frequency of stops that the bus must make. The argument that I make to many parents is that too frequent stops on a busy road can result in 8-way light infractions, as commuters become frustrated, and the result can be more dangerous for their children. As a fall-back stance when the situation becomes emotional, however, we have a Review Committee that parents can appeal to if they do not like my ruling on a stop. That usually happens about two or three times a school year. LM
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busdrivinwoman
Senior Member
USA
88 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2002 : 7:04:16 PM
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I agree with Debusguy. I don't think parents understand the time schedules we are on. If we have to wait for "wait for a minute finger" which usual turns into 2 or 3 minutes, then I'm late those 2 or 3 minutes getting all of my kids to school.
I also agree with Debusguy on several stops in the same area. I have some kd. that live in the same block and refuse to make 2 stops within that one block. I make the stop at an equal walking distance from both houses.
I have sent letters home to my kd. parents (they are the ones that I have a problem with, for the same reasons, wait inside where it is warm, etc) and it still is the same. I have brought it up to supervisor, but they feel it isn't a big problem. To me it is, when it is the same parent every day.
safety is number one, ohio school bus driver |
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Topic |
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Door to Door Service
