Another loop hole they have is this... If the TA isn't a traditional 8-4 but rather a 9-5. Then if you drive the bus in the afternoon, you are "technically" still on school pay so you get NO bus pay. Screw that! 8)
Yep! That's how they do it at my kids school. Which is a Wake County school. As another poster said the online account information is awesome.
I feel so sorry for that little girl and I hope she is okay. We’ve never had a problem with our bus drivers. My son has one for the morning and one for the afternoon. Our biggest problem is people like to run the bus stop in the mornings. So I stand with my son and make him stop if a car is coming. He doesn’t cross the road until the car has stopped. My son has ran out of lunch money before but he has a wonderful teacher assistant. She always calls me before lunch time to let me know that he doesn’t have enough lunch money for that day so I run over to the school and drop off money for him. Sometimes I don’t get the letter in time and over estimate how much money he has. At the first of the year though my son was buying two or three extras a day and I didn’t realize it so he was running out of lunch money fast. It took me a little while to realize what he was doing. Then I put a block on his account so he couldn’t do that again. He wasn’t very happy about that.
I feel sorry for that little girl. I'm sure she will be scared to death to ride a bus again. However, lets not assume all bus drivers are this way. I'm glad to say my children have ALWAYS had great bus drivers and they are 15 and 13 and have been riding the bus since they were 9 and 7. They even pick my children up right in front of our house instead of making them walk down to the corner since they are the only ones that get on at that stop. They have even given them little treats for special holidays and things like that. For all the work they do between driving a bus and working all day they are not compensated as they should, IMO.
WOW- thats awesome but every classroom can't depend on someone with your cash flow-there are some parents that would take full advantage if they knew about that extra $. I like the idea of having the pot thing and everyone contribute. it is an extra burden on the teacher though-maybe each week a different parent could take the responsibilty of sending notes (and i'm sure most would like emails better). No kid today should go without a lunch in school in this day and age with all the money the lotteries take in - As far as buses go, I'm not saying all our drivers are bad. It is a very hard job- my mother drove bus for over 25 years. They carry very precious cargo and if what you state is true they are overworked and very underpaid. but little errors can be very costly.
I too have put a block on my daughters account..I couldn't believe that she was going through the money so fast...and my DD teacher called me a few times and said she had no money for lunch, but turned out she did and one time they had a new cashier and Dd had to eat a veggie lunch, some how they messed up..that day I made a visit. I get my DD account info every Friday with out fail..I always check it.
First, until you go to school and see all of this happening, you really have no idea. As a TA, I can't tell you how much money I have given to kids, and never once have they paid me back. The kids are told every day how much money they have and the younger ones get a letter home, in their folders. Which, as a parent, I have to check the folders every day. Many kids nowadays, feel like it's our duty to give them lunch. Well, guess what, it's not our duty. You have to pay for it. As a parent, I would call the school and ask for the kids balance. It was all clearly stated at the beginning of the year. Also, most kids know they are supposed to get a veggie tray, and purposely don't. So, then they have to go back. It's not all of them, but it's alot more than you would imagine. Not to mention, as a staff member, I have to pay a la carte for my lunch. $2 for a meat, $0.85 per vegetable. I feel horrible for that little girl. I hope she is okay. But, I also feel for that bus driver. As a bus driver, I can only imagine her feeling really really bad about the accident. I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose.
maybe they ought to go back to the way it was when my boys were little, the parents gave them their lunch money every day or they bought a week ticket on Mondays, no worries about running out of money or hey, even another idea, pack a lunch, that way you know what your kid is eating.
this is a little off subject but you mentioned lottery and it made me think of this...... My daughters teacher told me that Johnston County will not have summer school due to the cost. I COULD NOT believe this!
I usually pack my kid's lunch. Once in a while she likes to eat at school. I kind of like packing her lunch because then I know what she's eating. One time when she ate from school she told me she got a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and a cookie. I could've sent that without paying the school for it!
My DS was going thru SOOOOO much $$ at the beginning of the year as well then we found out he was buying a kid in his class lunch also bc my ds felt sorry for him bc he wasnt eating
Nobody said the busdriver did it on purpose, sarahmama. It WAS a careless & hurried act, I mean dang - she practically shut the door on the kid. I hope she feels bad, too. Maybe next time she will follow the rules instead of being in such a darn rush. PS I think your attitude regarding the kids and lunch sucks. They are kids, not adults in child bodies.
My son does this too, and I am proud to have raised a child who does this for others. Sometimes they pay back sometimes they don't.
I know i mean what is the lottery really for? Seems like since we got it we have had MORE cuts then ever b4 :evil:
I realize it was careless, and I'm not sure of how the situation happened. In our training, we are given repeated direction to count and recount the kids. Both on and off of the bus. There was one time that a girl got off the bus, and the other kids got me distracted with arguing, and I got scared before I went to pull off, because I couldn't see the little girl. She had gone behind the bus, and was in her driveway. So, I'm just saying that there could be other circumstances, but believe me, that driver is not going to get off scott free. I don't think they are adults in kids bodies. But, the teachers put the letter in their folders for them. It's not like they just tell them to remember. I personally have to put these letters in the folders. and I am in a 4th/5th grade classroom. My 4th grader brings her letter home every week, in her folder too. But, there are a lot of parents that aren't checking their childs folder every day. The teachers to all they can to get the letters to the parents, what happens at that point isn't their fault. I don't think I have a bad attitude toward them, but if you saw it everyday, and there are a lot of kids that don't care. Some just accidently forget, and those are the ones that I am buying lunch for every day. But, I also see the ones that just don't care.
While I understand and feel you frustration on this issue, I can't help but feel you just slammed a lot of innocent people. Come on, you basically are stating that assistant teachers and/or cafeteria workers don't have the capabilities/intelligence to drive a school bus or have care for any of the children, big slam to them. Careless action? Yes. Accident? Yes. Now, I've had issues and concerns about the buses once upon a time when my kids were younger and feel there still are multiples issues/problems to date. But slam the individual responsible for this particular event if you like, do not slam the entire group that consists of assistant teachers/cafe workers, thats not fair to them. Would you prefer things the way they use to be, lets let all those "responsible" teenagers drive the little ones to and from school? Or could you possibly come up with a solution to the issue, like, oh I don't know, may be you could drive the bus and have the pleasure of hearing a thousand screaming kids ringing in your ears and lets see just how easy it is for you to drive that big yellow monster. Just saying, help find a solution for the problem. My solution when my were younger was to trade off with one of the other mothers in car pool so that our kids were off the buses. We didn't care for what went on with the buses and found a solution. IMHO
