school bus -what are my rights?? | Autism PDD

bu-bump I need some advice!

my 5 year old is in an Early Childhood class. He's been riding the bus for a while now, and I'm ok with that only because the school is literally about 2 blocks from our house. It's just easier for us because I don't have a car during the day & the weather does not always permit us to walk

The last couple weeks they have added a child or changed the route somehow? and he's riding on the bus MUCH longer. His class gets out at 3:00 and he gets home at 3:45
3:45!!!!!!???? that's INSANE. He lives 2 blocks away!!

My son has also not wanted to go to school the last two weeks and the only thing I can tell that is different is the longer bus ride (he won't tell me what's bothering him)

The thing that REALLY freaks me out is he's the last kid on the bus & I have no idea how long he's just riding alone with the driver.
I'm not trying to be a creep, but I don't trust just anyone with my son. He can't tell me what happens during the day, he can't tell me if he thinks the driver is mean or not etc etc

Now he's had a sub for the last week & 1/2 and the guy is disgusting. I'm SORRY! I should NOT judge people by their appearance, but if you saw this guy you would NOT be comfortable leaving your 5 year old child with him! *shudder*

I asked the bus company if they could someone change the route to have him dropped off sooner, based on the fact that he lives around the corner!
But they said there's nothing they can do because they now go straight from school to another school & pick up the kids there, then they drive across town & backtrack (thus my child is riding all over town when he could be home in 2 minutes)
(sigh)

***I want to know I NEED to know what my RIGHTS are , legally.
I am calling the manager of the bus company this afternoon & I need to know what I can demand from them to eliminate this super long bus ride that I am CERTAINLY not comfortable with, and obviously niether is my son since he is suddenly not wanting to go to school anymore! ****

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!
i called the principle & we talked...she is going to call the bus company on my behalf & see if they will change the route so that instead of turning left they turn right- (literally) go around the corner , drop him & continue on the route. It really would be SUCH a simple change since he is so very close.
the whole reason we let him take the bus in the first place was because it is such a short ride (2 minutes? on the bus?) easy-peasey
HOWEVER, if the bus company will not do this I am taking him off the bus. At least for the ride home. I have no idea how we'll manage, I'll have to wake his brother up from his nap every day & go out in any weather to walk to get him. But I don't know what else to do.
The only way I'm comfortable letting him ride the bus right now is knowing he'd be coming straight home and not be on the bus alone

this is so stressful!!!

I hope the principle has some news for me today...

yesterday he cried so much & put his arms & legs out to block himself from being put on the bus...*sigh* I just couldn't do it. If he's that upset about hte bus? something is WRONG.
I let him stay home from school.
Is there any way that you can ask one of the parents of a classmate to pick your son up too? Since you're so close surely someone won't mind giving him a ride.
When my daughter was in preschool I was put on bedrest for the last few weeks of pregnancy with my youngest son. The teacher sent home a note with the class asking if someone could give my daughter a ride to, and from school. It wasn't unusual for notes like that to be sent home.
I just thought that I'd throw another suggestion out there. I'm sorry that you, and your son are going through this. I hope that you find a solution that you're comfortable with soon.
well i guess u have seen my two long post about my bus problems, i called the school, the bus company owner, the DOT complaint line all a circle of complaints no solutions. today for the 100th time we came to another compromise. my last problem is similar to yours but it was the matron who was out of order and i was very sure she was doing something to my son i have not slept well much this week and

Kelly

I don't really think there is much you can do. All the school has to do is provide transportation. If they let parents dictate things like this, then no one would ever be happy. It's kind of like an aid with your child that you don't like. You just decide if you want the service or not, they provide the services. In order for someone to be around your child, they had to pass extensive background checks. Or they do in my state anyway, I am just assuming it's this way everywhere.

Now, that being said, I wish I had better advice for you as far as not trusting the person who is driving the bus and your son being left on their alone since he's the last person. Maybe you could ask for an aid to be on the bus since they added more children. Maybe you could walk him the days the weather lets you and then only have him ride the bus when you have to. None of this really makes sense if you don't trust the guy. In that case, if you do call the head of transportation and they won't do anything about it, then you have to decide if he's going to ride or not ride. I couldn't put my child on the bus with someone I didn't trust either. You have a very good argument. I just don't know if anything can be changed. I would be surprised if it changed.

Am I assuming they also don't have an additional aide on the bus? That doesn't seem right!

good luck with your fight i have been fighting with my bus comp for 16 years. they only want to do things their way and never want to change for you. only hting you can do is get iep to state your child needs a matron on bus with him and then at least someone else will be on bus with the driver and your child. my son riding bus for 2 to 2.5 hours each way for an 1 hour ride. been fighting over that for 2 years with lawyers etc but getting no where.

That's awesome! It's great to hear you are getting what you asked for!

Congrats on your victory! I had the same problem but I live in a rural area and it was taking almost 2 hours to get my son home! We have NO public transportation where I live. I ended up ending the bus service and my family and friends came to the rescue! Thank God. And now my dd's drive so no more issues!

UPDATE!

sooo sorry everyone but I forgot all about updating you on what happened!

The week we were having all this discussion and trying to change the route was the week I was going away for 4 days with a girlfriend. I had NEVER left the boys EVER EVER EVER so I was a basket case! On top of it I was really trying to nail down this bus thing so it would be resolved before I left.

On TuesdayI finally talked to the head of special education in our district. She is a GREAT lady who I've met several times as she's been at some of our IEP meetings and is heading up our educational diagnosis process right now .
I knew from the beginning that she was someone who was on our side (the parents)
I called her and let her know I felt it was "interferring with his education"
A parent advocate recommended the stressing of that to them because the school is responsible to give him an education and if something is interferring it IS their problem.
well , as soon as I started talking she wrote herself a note to call the secretary of transportation ASAP and said she'd get on it right away & talk to them, but not to expect a call back that day yet...

Well God bless her! she met with someone THAT DAY and called me at 4:00 tuesday to say that the bus route had been changed & would be effective as of the NEXT DAY!

I was SHOCKED! I mean, who has the power? WOW!!!!
What was so great about it was that he had a day of the new route before I left, and then dad got him on the bus on thursday when I was gone iwthout much problem
As it is now he is picked up & taken directly to school as always (school is 2 blocks away so he's on for a super short time)
Then on the way home the drop him off FIRST!
he's now home at 3:00, even earlier if they don't have the child with a wheelchair to load on. That is compared to 3:40-3:45!!!
HUGE difference!
I have NO idea what she said to the bus company, but it was different than what Malachi's teacher must have said though she called twice, I called three times and the principle had called as well!

So Praise God! he's only riding for 2 minutes and he's never on their alone, just with a couple other classmates who I think he knows all of. They are all just little peanuts 3-6 years old.

Also the sub driver that was creeping me out was finally gone & his regular driver back so that helped as well.

I still didn't get the whole skinny on the details, but according to the parent advocate that I talked to the school is legally responsible to give your child the education he needs/deserves ,and if something is getting in the way of that, like something they are not providing etc, they need to find a way for you to get that (which is in your rights) and according to what this woman looked up, legally they might have to even pay for your child to go to a different school , or even get them a in home tutor of some sort if they aren't providing what the child needs.
Therfore, if the bus can't get him to school, they ARE responsible for that (contrary to what the bus co. and principle lead me to believe)
interesting..........
point is- keep pushing!!!! we have more rights than we know!
sad...sad that the schools (& other) would rather keep you in the dark than accomidate everyone.

VICTORY!

Woohoo!

That is good news, and good advice you receive. And good for the special ed official who acted quickly.

I had a problem on my son's bus recently, where he came home and complained that when he got out of his seat and didn't listen to the aide and bus driver, the aide restrained him, and it was uncomfortable. The restraint is a big no-no. I spoke to my son's school, and they spoke to the bus driver and aide. I also questioned the bus driver indirectly. I asked her if there was any restraining going on. She was quiet for a couple of seconds and then said, "We don't do that." I responded, "All right," and gave her a very serious, no-nonsense look. She may have taken that as a warning that I was not going to put up with them manhandling my child. I haven't heard any complaints from my son since; I make sure to question him about it. I find that bus drivers and aides not unly are seldom trained to handle children with disabilities, they just don't understand the disabilities from the get go. Not all of them are like that, but many are.

A big congratulations!!!

And a reminder for all of us...Never give up!!!