For those who DC take a bus to/from school - FINAL update

What is the policy/procedure if a drop off is attempted and no one is home? There was an incident yesterday and before I call, I was wondering what is SOP. (Ex. do they call it in, do they just continue the route, reattempt after the route is over, etc.).

Here is what happened:

Here is the scenario, since I am waiting for the bus company supervisor to call me back, there was a sub for my son's route yesterday. Three days a week he is dropped off home and on thursdays and fridays he is dropped off at my mom's. If he is dropped off at home it is at 2:45 since he is the first stop, if he is dropped off at my mom's it is at 3:10 (closer to the end). yesterday my mom called me at 3:30 freaking out that DS' bus never came. I called the bus company, they told me that there was a sub and they proceeded to call the bus. The bus driver, was very noncommunicative and it took the dispatcher several tries to get her. I told him I would hold, he finally got back to me and said she was about 10 minutes away. This was now at 3:45. At 4:00 the bus company called my mom to say that it would be another 20 minutes. That she attempted to drop off at my house. My son did not get dropped off until 4:40 yesterday. WHERE THE EFF WAS MY SON FOR 2 HOURS???? If they tried to drop him off at my house she would have known that at 3:30 when the company called. I am trying to figure out where the ball dropped and to make sure it never happens again.

Final Update: To begin with, i would like to say that all these people SUCK. First i called the school and spoke with the transportation person. she was "not really sure what the SOP and didnt want to give me incorrect information" so she gave me the number for the central bus number. The woman I spoke with I felt was only half listening and was in damage control mode. She was very intent on telling me that when there is a sub things get delayed. I did manage to find out that the route immediately before DS', had a bus accident hence the sub. The bus driver was ok but shaken up, the bus aide was injured and thank god all the kids were ok . That being said, I am pissed off that everyone seemed to drop the ball.

First, the bus was delayed at the school, while they tried to get all the kids into their seating chart. (SOP is that they should have called me at this point to say the bus was late).

Second, the SOP procedure if they are unable to drop off is to call the central station number and notify them that there was no one home. If there are kids on the bus, they are to finish their route and then go back (the sub driver never called in). If they go back and there is still no one home, they are supposed to call again and then the bus company is to call the emergency drop off people and see if they are available. My number one person is my mother.

First, the school should have called and told me that the bus was leaving the school late.
Second, the driver never should have attempted to drop him off at my house since it was not the day to do so.
Third, she never called in when I wasn't there
Fourth, she never told the bus dispatch that my son was attempted to be dropped off.
Fifth, the dispatch never told me that the bus was running late because there was an accident.
Sixth, the driver had no idea who my son was when dispatch called and apparently tried to drop him off at home AGAIN.
Seventh, it was only when she realized that my son was the one that dispatch had been contacting her about did she realize that she had to go to my mom's all along.

So, at least 7 times people dropped the ball.

Message edited 10/13/2012 6:42:58 AM.

For those who DC take a bus to/from school

I don't know of the official policy but I do know they will not allow DD to get off the bus if I am not there. We also had to give a list of who is able to take her off the bus and if there are any changes we need to contact the school transportation department. They will not allow her off without knowing who the person is. I would assume that they would keep her on the bus and attempt to contact us through the school. I would hope that if they were able to contact us that they would then bring her back home knowing we were there but if no contact was made, bring her back to school.

This is a great question though and I'm going to ask the school what is their procedure.

Re: For those who DC take a bus to/from school

Karen:

Is it the school that makes the procedure? or is it the bus?

Re: For those who DC take a bus to/from school

My DS is in Kindergarten. We had to give a list of people allowed to take him off the bus at Kindergarten registration.
If no one is home, I am 90% sure, they take the child back to school.

For those who DC take a bus to/from school - Edited with what transpired yesterday

That is awful and I would request another bus driver ASAP. Even if he went to the wrong stop first (which ok maybe can happen) he should have immediately called dispatch and told them the issue. What the heck was he doing for 2 hours....Totally unacceptable!

Is there a bus helper on the bus. If not you should request one! She/he should have known the correct route to go.

Re: For those who DC take a bus to/from school - Edited with what transpired yesterday

Re: For those who DC take a bus to/from school - Edited with what transpired yesterday

I had an incident 2 weeks ago. My son is 4, and goes pretty far out east (28 miles from my house) so the bus ride is 2:30 and he arrives home at 4:00. He's been really good though, takes a nice nap. So last week the bus went to the first stop and the mother wasn't home, they waited for 1 hour until she arrived YES sat there and just waited. I was LIVID. My son arrived home at 5:00.
I called the bus company, it got me no where. I called my district, still got no where. Called the Superintendent and he called the bus company- he returned my call and told me that since he's a pre-schooler that the bus is hired by the county and I would have to put a complaint in with them. I'm still waiting for a return call
Sadly there seems to be no rules or laws in place about how long a child should remain on the bus. At least I haven't gotten a clear answer on it.

Re: For those who DC take a bus to/from school - FINAL update

That is just awful. I am a teacher at a small private school for kids on the spectrum and there are ALWAYS issues with the bus company.


ETA: that it is especially scary when the students have limited verbal skills and cannot express what has been going on.

Message edited 10/14/2012 1:40:38 PM.