Is this too long for a bus ride?

We are in VA and DS goes to preschool through the county school district's special education preschool program. He is 4.

The daycare center that I work at does transport children to select schools but not the one my DS attends so he gets picked up on a school bus (one for special needs children with an aide and they have a 5 point harness seat for him.

Originally he has been getting picked up at 8:45am to be at school by 9:05am. Coming home I believe they let out around 3:40pm and he would arrive back to daycare at 4:05pm.

The other day we got a note from the bus driver that due to rerouting he will now be picked up at 8:15am and returns at 4:30pm. 50 MINUTES! Mind you the actual drive from my job/daycare to his school is only 10 minutes, if that.

I think this is way too long for a 4 year old to be on a school bus. He now misses the morning snack daycare provides and also misses outside time on the playground in the afternoon.

We have the teacher coming over on Weds for his monthly home visit but I don't think there's anything she can do. And my job won't be flexible to allow me the time to drive him/ pick him up.

How would you feel about this? I'm really upset.

Is this too long for a bus ride?

They can be on the bus for 90 minutes each way. DD gets picked up in the morning at 8:30 for a 9:20 school start and some of her friends are on alot longer than that. We live about 10 minutes from the school.

Re: Is this too long for a bus ride?

Is this too long for a bus ride?

Yes he can eat when he arrives at school. It's more just the huge inconvenience than anything. My heart just breaks for him but he does love riding the bus, thank goodness.

Is this too long for a bus ride?

It's one of those things you deal with as a working parent. My DS always had a shorter trip in the morning on the bus than in the afternoon. During preschool, he got out at 2:30 and usually got to daycare at 3:45-4:00. He sometimes napped on the bus and they gave him snack and a drink right after he arrived at daycare. Since I could not pick him up every day, there wasn't much I could do about it. The preschool had a daycare attached to it, but I wasn't sure I would make it there by the time they closed every night, so I didn't switch him. I also thought it was better to keep him in the daycare closer to where I worked, since he had been there for about a year and a half when he started preschool.

Re: Is this too long for a bus ride?

I feel this is very common here on LI too. I see a lot of moms complaining that their kid's bus ride is too long but I was told that they technically can be allowed on the bus for up to 90 minutes each way. We also live 10 minutes from my son's school. Over the summer, the bus picked him up 25 minutes before school started but the afternoon bus dropped him off at home nearly an hour after school ended. This fall, the bus in the afternoon now drops him off 20 minutes after school ends. I'm not sure why the driver's routes vary so much.

Is this too long for a bus ride?

actually in NY there is no time limit for a child to be on a bus. its reasonable and customary. not a set time. we learned the hard way, with 2 hours each way, for what should be a 30 minute ride. just have to keep fighting and fighting the bus company until they can or will do something about it. we fought so hard last year for that, and some other issues regarding the bus, the company dropped our district from the contract we had. got a new company this year, which is 1000 times better than the nonsense we dealt with last year.