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this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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So I can't speak to every school district across the country, but I can speak for the one I worked in and there's a (good/bad, you be the judge) reason for that.
In my state the language is explicitly may provide transportation. So that means it's something they take upon themselves. They get money for transportation from the feds/state obviously, but let's all be honest that it's a drop in the bucket to what it should be. And it's not an easy job to coordinate. I don't know the particulars of this system, but the county I worked for had some absolute backwater areas in its district. We're talking thirty minutes up/down mountain roads to the nearest school.
Add onto the funding issues that, like you said, there is a noticeable lack of drivers. They don't get benefits, they get shit pay, AND they have to have a Driver's License endorsement that entitles them to MUCH better opportunities in private sector.
Not that I'm saying any of this applies to this scenario or excuses it, but until you actually get a glimpse into the sausage factory it's really easy to mischaracterize something as complex as insuring a bus for every child who needs it as a simple problem. I'm willing to speak for Transportation Directors across all schoolboards that the overwhelming majority of them are absolutely terrified of this scenario occurring in their district.
Edit: I will add that even though it was a relatively podunk district with some of the most rural locals in my state, the district I worked for did insist that they do house-to-house, meaning none of that 1/2 mile - 1 mile stops. And they elected to do that themselves.
One of the big issues is that school districts get funding based on things like property taxes, or geographic location. The result is that affluent districts or schools are will funded and have good services, and others do not. There may also be some willful underfunding in some places as well by folks that balk at any taxes or bonds that don't help them immediately.
However, even an underfunded district should have been able to see this plan would have issue and raised a red flag with the community in advance.
Honestly, I don't think that would have stopped anything. One thing made abundantly clear to me from my time in that particular BoE is that the vocal minority literally could not care less. There were more people than I would have imagined griping and complaining that the busses weren't running to their area, despite the fact it is ultimately the parent's responsibility, and also despite the fact that they themselves weren't willing to grab an S endorsement and do the job themselves for not only their child but other people's as well.
And don't get me wrong, parents should have been notified and honestly this should have been trialed before opening day. But this would still be an article and people would still be up in arms because, sadly, it's often the loudest in the room that seem to lack the ability to take personal responsibility.
Wait, are you blaming the parents for not becoming bus drivers when its actually mismanagement from the privatized bus transport companies? Something doesnt track.
Yes, the parents in my area (not the area this article is about) I am blaming, but my area does not have a mismanagement issue so much as it has a massive shortage of bus drivers.
The bottom line is that in my state the school has no responsibility to provide transportation for your children get to school (outside of specific circumstances).Think of that how you will but ultimately that's neither here nor there. Don't have children if you don't want the responsibility that comes with them. And further, even if having children wasn't your choice that doesn't change that responsibility.
The other thing that needs mentioning is I'm singling out the vocal minority in particular. The people who get irate about the situation and think there has to be someone to blame in the BoE when more often than not the situation is out of their hands. The people who want to shout the loudest at people who's hands are tied are the least likely to lift a finger to alleviate the situation. And I get not everyone can just drop what they're doing, get an S endorsement and subsist on a bus driver's salary, but there's more than enough that can and won't. It's akin to the hand wringing about "dey tuk ar jerbs", the people who actually believe that won't actually go out and work as busboys, roofers, tree trimmers and farm hands. That's above them and too little of a wage for too much labor.
Instead of getting pissed at the BoE because there's a driver shortage due to subpar wages, increasingly hostile work environments and incredible amounts of responsibility and liability, maybe they could, I dunno, vote more responsibly? Write their state and federal representatives? Direct the anger at the people who have incredible control over the situation without having skin in the game?
Edit: and what the hell are you even talking about with "privatized bus transport companies"? Bus drivers are BoE employees meaning employees of their city/county school system and therefore state/public employees.
I didn’t really live that rural.. I… don’t think? but I was dropped off a half mile walk from my house because the bus would have had to back up a quarter mile to actually drop me off any closer, and I’d still have to walk a quarter mile because the bus couldn’t get down the gravel driveway. One side was a 26-foot deep man made pond (17 foot deep at the dam), the other side was a 15 foot drop into a marsh, with a dam between them passing under the driveway. Nothin doin.
When we got new drivers some of them tried but it was so uncomfortable for me to have caused that situation I just told them not to bother… I was 10, used to it, so it was whatever.
When I was like 13 my mom forgot to pick me up from wrestling practice and I had to walk 12 miles home in the dark along the highway. She didn’t realize I wasn’t there until I walked in at like 10:30.. That wasn’t a lot of fun. That’s not really related to the bus issue, other than I wasn’t really that far from the school, I just felt the need to offload it. :)