School Kids And Bussing

[mac60]

Just wondering, what is the normal amount of time your school kids who ride the bus spend on the bus.

A couple years ago our system changed their bus schedules. Now the kids in my neighborhood are pickup approx 6:32, for classes that begin at 8. I personally think it is rediculous that students have to spen 1 1/2 hours each morning on the bus. We are a little rural town of maybe 8000. No reason it should be this way. Please don't tell me this is normal for a bussed student.

[laundrymom]

Here our kids are on for 30 min or so. We are 3 to a seat and people standing. Every bus has more kids than it should.

[Kaddidle Care]

Standing? I'd be driving my own and raising heck with the Board of Ed on that.

10-15 minutes here - ours are the last to be picked up, first to be dropped off.

If I recall correctly we have a rule here that if they are on more than an hour, they have to change the route or bus for the child.

If you're rural, I can see the bus ride being longer.

[AfterSchoolMom]

Mine are only on for about 10 minutes. I grew up in a rural town with about the same number of people, and I remember my bus ride being at least 45 minutes.

[countrymom]

our rule is that it has to be less than 45 min. on the bus. We start school at 9am till 330pm but my kids are never on time at school, which is fine in the winter because they go straight in but when its nice the kids like to play outside but they are always late. We are rural/county people.

[AnythingsPossible]

Totally common in our area to spend that long if not longer on the bus. Town kids generally spend anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes on the bus, out of town much longer!
I had a preschooler once who went to a district that bussed the preschoolers with the older kids, the route would of had him on the bus for 75 minutes! Mom quickly made other arrangements.

[familyschoolcare]

Here the bus arrives at about 7:30 class starts at 8:20. However, the bus schedule is such that the bus should arrive on campus at 8:00 which when the playground is supervised from.

[heyhun77]

I grew up riding a bus anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes (elem school it was 30, junior high and older it was 90 and sometimes longer). My own kids walk across the street to the school and then at 3rd grade they have a shuttle to get to the other building (we are paired with another elem. school so k-2 is in one and 3-5 is in another). My middle schooler rides the bus and is on for about 20 minutes each direction (the school is about 10 blocks away but he has to haul his cello back and forth most days.)

[familyschoolcare]

Here the bus arrives at about 7:30 class starts at 8:20. However, the bus schedule is such that the bus should arrive on campus at 8:00 which when the playground is supervised from.

[sharlan]

It's been a long time since my kids rode the bus. Back then they were on for about 15 mins unless the bus driver got mad and pulled over and sat for 15 or 20 mins.

Now, you have to pay for the busses so most seem to carpool.

[MG&Lsmom]

My DDs are the 2nd stop, so about 45 mins - hour in the am. They do the route the same on the way home, so they're on the bus maybe 15-20 mins in the pm. I think anything over 30 mins is ridiculous. We're a small suburban town, ~11,000ppl. We had an incident 3 years ago with a 4yo SpEd child being left at the wrong house with no adult present, so we have a busing policy that kids have to have an adult present at the bus door every single day. This is for both pick up and drop off. The bus drivers complained about parents blocking the streets with their cars while waiting so now they pick up every child grade 4 & under at their doorstep. Takes them twice as long to do the routes now. We tried having one adult wait for all the kids on the street and walk them all home, but the bus company said each child/family had to have their own adult. They put up a huge stink about the home daycares & this rule.