Bus update

[donutsweeper]

So remember my rant about the schools here getting rid of the buses with the idea the city buses will do the job just as well?

So, today was the day to pick bus cards, but guess what? They didn't have ANY schedules there. Nada. No advice or help for kids needing to plan their routes. When asked why, the response was they didn't think they were necessary.

I assume they figured everyone lived right next to a bus stop and instinctively knew which route to take to get them to school. Or, perhaps, they just didn't care. *sighs* Back to wrangling with the metrotransit website for us I suppose.

Comments

[stackcats.livejournal.com]

Distinctly unhelpful! Can you complain to the headteacher or anything?

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, it's most likely that the decision not to have schedules was made by the big brass, all the high schools were instituting this policy so I assume it was done the same way at all. There just was no thought put into the implementing of it other than 'we need to get the bus passes out to the kids.;

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

We moved out to B'ville two years ago now, but are in the AV school district. Both E and I were shocked at how they handled their own budgeting crisis - but it was shocked at how well: busses to and from regular school hours remain, activity busses canceled, activity fees increased as well. However, the activities are scheduled to last until the time most parents are home from work and can either pick their kid up, or have them catch a ride with a friend's parent. The city bus also goes by only a block or so away from the school at those times.

It's not perfect by any means, but it seems to work well. The school the boys would have went to in Mpls cut almost all activities. Here, they believe they are still important and so they still offer them, but yeah, you pay extra for extra. Somehow, the tax money going to the schools is actually reaching the schools (for the mot part) as well, instead of the administrators. E says it's how the districts were originally structured, I say it's because Mpls got full of some corrupt, money hungry assholes who won't leave and won't let things be fixed when they've got an easy way to line their pockets just sitting there waiting for them.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's... actually helpful and logical. Way to go Apple Valley schools!

Busses to activities were done away with here a while ago and the number of activities cut. *sighs*

[seascribe.livejournal.com]

Oh man, bad enough that they changed things, but then didn't even do it well. Ugh. I hope that if it goes as badly as you think it will, they at least reconsider their approach. *hug*

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's unlikely to change any time soon, unless the budget suddenly becomes flush with cash (and even then I can't see it happening unless attendance fell sharply enough to affect the federal funds coming in or something. *sighs*

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that is just horrific mismanagement. How could they just assume you all knew what to do? I hope they get their acts together soon.

Stacey

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I bet students' need for figuring out bus schedules never even crossed their minds. *sigh*

[pielover62.livejournal.com]

It sounds like the whole thing was very poorly thought out. I just hope your transit system is less confusing than the one where I live. I had to rely on ours not long ago and discovered that the bus that stops in front of my apartment complex has three different routes to different destinations that it runs in cycles, but the bus itself always shows the same route number. You have to know the schedule to know which route the one you're on will be taking. It's crazy. Why not just designate each route with a different number?? And they wonder why nobody wants to use public transit here?!

Anyway, I hope you don't run into craziness like that and you're able to figure it all out without too much frustration. I imagine there will be a lot of tardy students the first few days.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that sounds *very* confusing.

And yeah, I completely expect a LOT of late/absent kids the first few days. We've pretty much decided we'll be driving the kids to school every day so not as to have to worry about them missing a connection or a bus being full and not taking new passengers, not sure if we'll be picking them up or not as well.

[pielover62.livejournal.com]

"...worry about them missing a connection or a bus being full and not taking new passengers."

Oh boy, I hadn't even thought of those possibilities!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

From what I can tell of the bus map/schedule my kids have two options- walk 1.3 miles to a major intersection which has buses every 8/10 minutes and will take them intersection only 3 blocks from school in less than 10 minutes, or walk .5 miles to take a bus that comes every 20 min to take them to a block away from that major intersection where they can pick up the same bus.

The problem in either case is a) buses are often late/running slightly off schedule. Sometimes buses that are suppose to be 10 min apart will actually be following right after one another so the 8am bus will be on time, the 8:10 will be at 8:02 and the next bus isn't until 8:20 or even later. And b) if a bus is full it just doesn't stop to pick up more passengers. And you've no idea if that'll be the case or not until the bus you are waiting for just blows past your stop without pausing.

So, unless you plan on always getting to your destination 30 or more minutes early (thus building in enough time for missing/delayed/whatever buses) you may very well be late with no fault of your own.

Gah. Sorry to be complaining, the whole thing is a mess and I'm a bit frustrated.

[pielover62.livejournal.com]

You don't sound like your complaining. You sound like a reasonable parent who is concerned for your children. It's not at all unreasonable for you to want to know that they can get back and forth to school each day in a safe and timely manner. I imagine these same things can happen on the way home in the afternoon, which I know would cause me to worry constantly if they had made it home safely, too.

Do you have any recourse at all? Any way to make your concerns and opinions known? Any way to protest that might be effective? These are the times I'm actually glad I don't have children, because things like this just make me so mad about the state of education in this country!! Every politician out there purports to support better education, yet it seems that nothing ever gets any better, only worse.

Well, anyway, that's my rant. I'll say a little prayer for you and your family.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, other than voting the school board out of office at the next election there's really no options for letting one's opinions known. Basically, for a limited number of parameters using city busing vs school busing is an amazingly good idea (saves money, allows for transportation at other times and to other places) and for a good half of the kids it'll be just as easy/easier, but there wasn't much thought in the implementation towards the other kids out there.

In a way, we were lucky, because this program had been phased in and my kids' school was among the last added. In general, I think you're right about politicians- they talk a good game about the importance of kids and education and then gut the system to save money because taxes are unpopular and might get them voted out of office. *SIGHS*