“But the car line is not cool. It is oppressive, boring, work-interrupting, bad for the Earth, bad for working parents, and bad for kids.”
Couldn't agree more! I was having (unrealistic) thoughts of homeschooling again, mostly because of commute and carpool. It FEELS so bad to spend two hours a day doing this. Sorry you list your bus this year 😵💫
While reading this post, I seemed to only be able to think about one thing, the haves and have nots. School buses will still run as long as we have children of poverty who would not be able to get school without provided transportation. I live within a mile of a high school, middle school, and elementary school. When I drive by during dismissal times, I am always struck by two things! Some buses are packed to capacity with mostly children of color, and others are almost empty band the few children onboard are usually white. This says so much about our society, far too much for me to get into right now. My children road the school bus to school during elementary, but were picked up by me after because they went to an after school program which was largely made up of white children whose working parents could afford after school program tuition. Most students of color rode the bus home to empty houses since parents were working, but did not make enough to cover the after school program tuition. In middle school my children rode the bus to and from school. In high school, they carpooled with older friends until, senior year at which time they drove their friends home in the car we purchased for them. The carpool line at the high school enrages me when I pass it. As you pointed out, some parents start waiting for dismissal 45 minutes before it begins. This line spills out onto the road which is a no parking zone. Parents sit in their idling cars blocking the right lane for as long as it takes to pick up their underclassmen children. No one gets a ticket and no attempt is ever made to prevent parents from stopping there. I am sorry to be so negative but having taught public school for 30 years, it's what I notice about yellow school buses. My love to all and no chastisement intended because my children clearly were children of white privilege. My love to all.
I loved this one! Carolina's school doesn't have buses, but she wants nothing more than to ride a school bus. Carpool is certainly a new experience...probably one of the most stressful parts of my day!
I rode the bus an hour each way because I lived in the boondocks too. I was fortunate that my single mom was able to drive me to the bus stop or that would have added another 45 minutes to the trip.
We had a wonderful driver in elementary school who played American Pie on an 8-track repeatedly so that we learned all the lyrics and spent the trip singing.
My kids, sadly, never had the experience because I chose to homeschool them, a decision I don't regret at all. They both just graduated from college!
I enjoyed riding the bus as a kid. My first few years, I got to walk to school, which was exciting, and we were close enough to the school that I was surrounded by kids so I didn't have to be walked by a parent. I was independent for a few minutes to and from, every day. Then, when I switched schools, I had tons of time to stare out the window and think. I still pull from those memories when I'm writing; I got to know the Northern Virginia landscape very well that way.
As a grown-up who doesn't have kids, it was absolutely foreign territory to me to have to do the bus line to pick up Janet's kids from their charter school when she was in the hospital. As a woman in her 30s, nobody suspected I wouldn't know the unwritten rules, either. (I ticked off some people by getting out of my car to help my niece buckle into her car seat. How would I know there was an aide who'd come help?) It's a big cultural shift from when I was in school. “But the car line is not cool. It is oppressive, boring, work-interrupting, bad for the Earth, bad for working parents, and bad for kids.” — Yes.
thanks for this beautiful post and wonderful photo! so many "public goods" have vanished or been so depleted by a legislature and culture intent on reducing us to an individualistic, consumer society
i attended a small private school so we didn’t have school buses but we did have transportation large ford fairlane stationwagons! we were packed in one up one back like sardines! good thing because we had a driver “ Mrs Wheeler” who would gleefully speed over a certain speed bump! we would all fly up in a sardine clump together! ( no seatbelts!) what a rush! tg we all lived to tell the tale
Our school system has a bus driver shortage too. They notified parents shortly before school started that they would not be providing transportation to children in any of their specialty schools, specialty programs, or charter schools. Now I lose 3.5 hours a day providing transportation and sitting in the carpool line. The non-standard options are the best schools and programs in our county- like the STEM schools, the arts HS, and the early college programs. These schools are a lifeline for many kids in our heavily minority and underprivileged district. But, as a result, many parents have had to pull their kids out. If bussing doesn’t return next year, the lack of kids will impact funding and destabilize these programs.
My daughter’s little 350 student K-7 school is the only charter to provide bussing to some of their students. They dug deep and are paying 225k for a local tour company to bus 168 students. These kids have charging stations, WiFi, little TVs in the back of their seats, and snacks handed out on the way home. They’re not going to want to go back to those yellow busses next year! 😂
I love this post and especially the photo at the end. When I was in elementary school, I lived in Vienna, Austria... and I took public transportation to school. That meant taking a street car to a subway to a bus, and riding that bus to its last stop, then walking from there. Navigating public transportation in a foreign city at such a young age gave me such a strong sense of independence!
“But the car line is not cool. It is oppressive, boring, work-interrupting, bad for the Earth, bad for working parents, and bad for kids.”
Couldn't agree more! I was having (unrealistic) thoughts of homeschooling again, mostly because of commute and carpool. It FEELS so bad to spend two hours a day doing this. Sorry you list your bus this year 😵💫
While reading this post, I seemed to only be able to think about one thing, the haves and have nots. School buses will still run as long as we have children of poverty who would not be able to get school without provided transportation. I live within a mile of a high school, middle school, and elementary school. When I drive by during dismissal times, I am always struck by two things! Some buses are packed to capacity with mostly children of color, and others are almost empty band the few children onboard are usually white. This says so much about our society, far too much for me to get into right now. My children road the school bus to school during elementary, but were picked up by me after because they went to an after school program which was largely made up of white children whose working parents could afford after school program tuition. Most students of color rode the bus home to empty houses since parents were working, but did not make enough to cover the after school program tuition. In middle school my children rode the bus to and from school. In high school, they carpooled with older friends until, senior year at which time they drove their friends home in the car we purchased for them. The carpool line at the high school enrages me when I pass it. As you pointed out, some parents start waiting for dismissal 45 minutes before it begins. This line spills out onto the road which is a no parking zone. Parents sit in their idling cars blocking the right lane for as long as it takes to pick up their underclassmen children. No one gets a ticket and no attempt is ever made to prevent parents from stopping there. I am sorry to be so negative but having taught public school for 30 years, it's what I notice about yellow school buses. My love to all and no chastisement intended because my children clearly were children of white privilege. My love to all.
This is a great essay. Says a lot about where we are - and where we are going.
I loved this one! Carolina's school doesn't have buses, but she wants nothing more than to ride a school bus. Carpool is certainly a new experience...probably one of the most stressful parts of my day!
I rode the bus an hour each way because I lived in the boondocks too. I was fortunate that my single mom was able to drive me to the bus stop or that would have added another 45 minutes to the trip.
We had a wonderful driver in elementary school who played American Pie on an 8-track repeatedly so that we learned all the lyrics and spent the trip singing.
My kids, sadly, never had the experience because I chose to homeschool them, a decision I don't regret at all. They both just graduated from college!
Oh golly, Bea is so much taller now.
I enjoyed riding the bus as a kid. My first few years, I got to walk to school, which was exciting, and we were close enough to the school that I was surrounded by kids so I didn't have to be walked by a parent. I was independent for a few minutes to and from, every day. Then, when I switched schools, I had tons of time to stare out the window and think. I still pull from those memories when I'm writing; I got to know the Northern Virginia landscape very well that way.
As a grown-up who doesn't have kids, it was absolutely foreign territory to me to have to do the bus line to pick up Janet's kids from their charter school when she was in the hospital. As a woman in her 30s, nobody suspected I wouldn't know the unwritten rules, either. (I ticked off some people by getting out of my car to help my niece buckle into her car seat. How would I know there was an aide who'd come help?) It's a big cultural shift from when I was in school. “But the car line is not cool. It is oppressive, boring, work-interrupting, bad for the Earth, bad for working parents, and bad for kids.” — Yes.
thanks for this beautiful post and wonderful photo! so many "public goods" have vanished or been so depleted by a legislature and culture intent on reducing us to an individualistic, consumer society
i attended a small private school so we didn’t have school buses but we did have transportation large ford fairlane stationwagons! we were packed in one up one back like sardines! good thing because we had a driver “ Mrs Wheeler” who would gleefully speed over a certain speed bump! we would all fly up in a sardine clump together! ( no seatbelts!) what a rush! tg we all lived to tell the tale
Our school system has a bus driver shortage too. They notified parents shortly before school started that they would not be providing transportation to children in any of their specialty schools, specialty programs, or charter schools. Now I lose 3.5 hours a day providing transportation and sitting in the carpool line. The non-standard options are the best schools and programs in our county- like the STEM schools, the arts HS, and the early college programs. These schools are a lifeline for many kids in our heavily minority and underprivileged district. But, as a result, many parents have had to pull their kids out. If bussing doesn’t return next year, the lack of kids will impact funding and destabilize these programs.
My daughter’s little 350 student K-7 school is the only charter to provide bussing to some of their students. They dug deep and are paying 225k for a local tour company to bus 168 students. These kids have charging stations, WiFi, little TVs in the back of their seats, and snacks handed out on the way home. They’re not going to want to go back to those yellow busses next year! 😂
Belle’s school bus drivers just retired this year! between the 2 they had nearly 100 years of service combined!
In Texas where one of our cousins
lives parents now have to pay for
school bus service! at public schools!
Belle i love your comment to the
montesorri parents! i love this post
(as always!)
little preschoolers get so excited when they see a school bus ( it represents
possibilities
I love this post and especially the photo at the end. When I was in elementary school, I lived in Vienna, Austria... and I took public transportation to school. That meant taking a street car to a subway to a bus, and riding that bus to its last stop, then walking from there. Navigating public transportation in a foreign city at such a young age gave me such a strong sense of independence!