The first battle with the school - averted!
Mia has been getting home from school about 3.40-3.45. She's on the bus about 40 minutes, which is fine if not perfectly ideal. She likes the bus a lot, but there's no air conditioning, and Mia has some problems regulating her body temperature, so I'm really looking forward to when the weather gets better.
Then on Friday morning I got a phone call (it went to voice mail) from the Transportation Department. The woman said that two kids were being added to her route and she would be dropped off at 4 o'clock. I thought, "Fine." I wouldn't want her to come home any later than 4, but if that's the time, I can deal with it. So when the driver dropped her off, I asked him about it. He told me that his time for drop-off was 4.11, but he didn't think she'd get home earlier than 4.30. He has to go to a different school prior to picking her up (ironically, the school where she went to pre-school) and then head the opposite direction to get her. Then, he picks up two junior high school kids at 3.45, and then drop them off before coming home with her. He actually suggested that I complain about it.
So I did. I called the Transportation Department and left a message with the woman in charge of these sorts of things. It was Friday at about 4.15, but they must have left for the day because they never got back to me. I didn't think I sounded particularly mad, and I was trying to be conciliatory. I explained that I wasn't too happy with her sharing a bus with 12- or 13-year-olds, even though she has a bus monitor and the kids would be, after all, disabled in some way (Mia rides the short bus, in case you didn't realize). Still, she's only 5. That, I explained, wasn't the biggest problem I had with it. I told them that the driver said he wouldn't be dropping her off until 4.30, and I really didn't want her on the bus for 90 minutes. I don't think she'd mind all that much, but I don't want her there. She also has Occupational Therapy on Monday at about 4, so that would mess up her schedule. I even said on the message that I wouldn't mind seeing what happened for a few days, but if she got home any later than 4 we'd have to change something.
This morning I got a phone call from the Transportation Department. The woman said that tomorrow she'd be back on her old schedule, with her drop-off time at about 3.40. I barely got a word in - I just thanked her and ended the call. I told Krys I didn't think I was too mean on the phone, but they acted like I had threatened their lives or something. Whatever. I'm just happy that we didn't have to fight about it. I don't want to have to fight with the school system for everything. That would suck. I know she lives far away from the school and might have to share the bus with other children, which adds to her time on the bus, but it would be nice if they could figure out a good route so that none of them is on the bus too long. I'm just glad this got worked out so easily and quickly. I know we're going to have to deal with plenty of stuff over the next years, so I didn't want it to start now.
Then on Friday morning I got a phone call (it went to voice mail) from the Transportation Department. The woman said that two kids were being added to her route and she would be dropped off at 4 o'clock. I thought, "Fine." I wouldn't want her to come home any later than 4, but if that's the time, I can deal with it. So when the driver dropped her off, I asked him about it. He told me that his time for drop-off was 4.11, but he didn't think she'd get home earlier than 4.30. He has to go to a different school prior to picking her up (ironically, the school where she went to pre-school) and then head the opposite direction to get her. Then, he picks up two junior high school kids at 3.45, and then drop them off before coming home with her. He actually suggested that I complain about it.
So I did. I called the Transportation Department and left a message with the woman in charge of these sorts of things. It was Friday at about 4.15, but they must have left for the day because they never got back to me. I didn't think I sounded particularly mad, and I was trying to be conciliatory. I explained that I wasn't too happy with her sharing a bus with 12- or 13-year-olds, even though she has a bus monitor and the kids would be, after all, disabled in some way (Mia rides the short bus, in case you didn't realize). Still, she's only 5. That, I explained, wasn't the biggest problem I had with it. I told them that the driver said he wouldn't be dropping her off until 4.30, and I really didn't want her on the bus for 90 minutes. I don't think she'd mind all that much, but I don't want her there. She also has Occupational Therapy on Monday at about 4, so that would mess up her schedule. I even said on the message that I wouldn't mind seeing what happened for a few days, but if she got home any later than 4 we'd have to change something.
This morning I got a phone call from the Transportation Department. The woman said that tomorrow she'd be back on her old schedule, with her drop-off time at about 3.40. I barely got a word in - I just thanked her and ended the call. I told Krys I didn't think I was too mean on the phone, but they acted like I had threatened their lives or something. Whatever. I'm just happy that we didn't have to fight about it. I don't want to have to fight with the school system for everything. That would suck. I know she lives far away from the school and might have to share the bus with other children, which adds to her time on the bus, but it would be nice if they could figure out a good route so that none of them is on the bus too long. I'm just glad this got worked out so easily and quickly. I know we're going to have to deal with plenty of stuff over the next years, so I didn't want it to start now.
posted by Greg at
3:12 PM
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