Transportation Woes

So just when we get the school situation (mostly) figured out (we'll have another IEP meeting in a couple of weeks to see how things are going and to go over the goals) we now have an issue with the bus transportation.

Sunday evening I received a call from the driver stating she received the request to put Kayla on her route; she was calling to let me know what time pick-up would be.

Pick up time was scheduled to be ... 5:45 ... yes, 5:45 in the morning. Excuse me while I pick my jaw up from the floor. I confirmed with her, "quarter to SIX?"

She explained Kayla would be the 3rd child on the route and they have a lot of kids this year that need to be transported and need to get them to school at 7 (school starts at 7:25). The school is 15 min away (just driving straight there and not during school start/end times).

Besides the fact that Kayla would be on the bus for an hour and 15 min, this would mean that she would have to be up at 5 o'clock at the latest. That's not happening. I am not having my 7 yr old child wake up at 5 to catch a bus at 5:45, to make it to school around 7. That's unacceptable.

If Kayla is waking up that early, and sitting on a bus for over an hour, I really don't think she's going to be in the right mindset to start her day off by sitting in a classroom, expected to pay attention and focus. She's going to be restless with pent up energy, or tired. She might fall back to sleep on the bus, but there is no guarantee she would get that 'extra' sleep.

And how would her day go after that? She would probably feel like crashing after lunch. And be too tired to pay attention or do any work at that time either.

Speaking of lunch - if she's up at 5 eating breakfast how hungry do you think she is going to be at lunch time, which is noon? They do have a morning snack (not sure what time though) but I'm sure she'll be hungry.

So I'm taking Kayla to school for right now (the driver said the timing might change somewhat after the first week to see how things actually run). I'm letting her come home on the bus in the afternoon because I know she really enjoys riding the bus. The afternoon trip is still an hour and 10-15 min too. And no air conditioning.

Yesterday the driver told me she talked to her supervisor about all the kids they have and was told they don't have another bus to use to make two routes.

I asked if I was the only parent that complained about this early pick-up time and was told yes. To her knowledge no one else has said anything. I can't believe no other parents have an issue with the oh-dark-thirty pick-up time. The driver also said the first child that was on her list transferred to another district so Kayla would now be 2nd in line for pick up - which meant that she would be picked up even earlier. I didn't understand that, because if the first kid isn't on the route now, that is one less stop to make, so why would pick up time be even earlier?

I wish I had the grounds to fight this by saying she can't be on the bus for more than an hour, but South Carolina state law states a student may not ride the bus for any longer than 90 consecutive minutes. An hour and a half is acceptable?! Who comes up with this stuff?

So in the meantime we leave the house about 645, which means I now have to wake Lucas up early, much earlier than he would normally be awake. Yes I want some cheese with my whine on that topic. That frustrates me too - having to wake him up that early. He doesn't nap any more and it shows as the day wears on.

This isn't the end though; I will be talking to someone at transportation, and at the school, and the special ed department. If they have that many kids on the bus they need to find another bus and driver and aide somewhere, somehow.