Dear Bus Company,
Many of your buses did not enter our development this morning to pick up our children. You may have had good reason. The roads are narrow, the cars parked away from the curbs and your buses would not be able to get thru. You want to be sure not to damage your buses or other vehicles . You do not want to run late. The problem is that you did not let any of the parents affected by your company decision (or the impulsive decision of the bus driver) know. This left children waiting and waiting, playing in the snow, waiting for their bus which will never arrive. You left children in a situation fraught with danger because you did not let the parent s know. Many parents have left to yeshiva or work and would never know if not for caring neighbors.
It is incumbent upon the bus company to advise parents ahead of time if the bus is not coming because no monetary or time consideration can ever justify leaving children in harm’s way. You are entrusted to ensure that our children arrive safely to and from school, and when you act so irresponsibly you are not deserving of that trust.
A concerned parent
To Concerned Parent, If you are so concerned about your children why would you go to work or to yehiva before your child is safely on a bus?
to leave your child unattended outside is your parental negligence not the bus drivers so get your act together and start raising your own children
The bus companies should complian to the city for doing such a bad job.My six year old got dropped of by the main street yesterday.
The buses don’t only not show up at the developments! I live in a regular house on a regular street and numerous times since the snow my childrens bus has not come. The bus company does not answer their phone or return calls. My children have had to miss school because they had no other means to get their. We only have one car and I had it at work. There is no sense of responsibility on their part. The BOE also just shrugs their shoulders.
You left your child, and you want to call some one irresponsible for leaving your child. Unbelievable!
And judging the photo you have there, looks like the bus can not get through the road. No one should have to tell all of you to move your cars so that the buses can get through. That is common sense, not to mention your responsibility as a resident to make sure the buses can get through.
concerned parent:
#1: How can you leave to work/yeshiva without having *someone* responsible for your child??? I know other people in the same situation, but would NEVER leave a child by a bus stop alone without another child there where arrangements are made in ADVANCE that “if the bus (ever) doesn’t come, can you please be responsible for my child to get him/her to school together with your kid”
#2: what should the busdriver do if he finds he can’t make it in to your stop? You’ve already “left your kids alone” by that point. Please take responsibility!!
also, maybe try to “think a little in advance” if you see there is an issue with buses getting through, maybe try to do something about it? ie. get neighbors together to ensure that buses (and other cars for that matter) CAN get through? ie. no parking on both sides of street etc…
#1 its the school’s job to inform the paretns, not the bus companies’.
#2 Call the township’s school transportation department 732.905.3697, they are compiling a dossier on those bus companies’ who do not cooperate. With enough complaints they will overcome the “rigged bidding” that gives some heartless companie’s many of the routes.
#3 kudos to those bus companie’s (both jewish and gentile) who DO cooperate with parents and schools!
have happened if the Lakewood BOE still did their own busing? It’s been privatized for a while and all the while it’s been a problem and now costs more $$$$.
I recall as a kid growing up and seeing what the busing was like around Coventry Square this is a development similar to those around town. The roads were narrow in this big development, there were alot of cars parked on the street and in parking spots, big school buses weren’t able to get around the streets so the solution to that problem was very simple. Every kid walked to the beginning of the street which back then was refered to as Courts and stood outside and waited for the school bus to pick them up and then drop them off at the end of the school day. The school buses stayed on the main street and stopped at every street, not once did these big school buses drive down the streets. The only buses I can recall were the smaller types.
This is the solution so end all of the complaining, have a common bus stop at the beginning of the developments, don’t let the buses drive through and create problems. It’s that simple now stop complaining about the problem and take time to think of a solution.
Lakewood is growing to fast and big to even think that oversized vehicles can even enter one of these developments. You want to put blame on someone then place it on the planning boards who approve the building not the bus companies.
I am a little bit confused. Putting aside the absolutely ludicrous idea that your child being left alone is somehow the fault of the bus company, can you clarify something? Do you actually expect the bus drivers and/or managers to start calling HUNDREDS of parents to see if on any given day there will be cars parked all over thereby not letting the busses get through? I happen to live in a complex and the busses do come through. While I was waiting for the bus (WITH my children) this morning, a bus got stuck outside my house because these redicilous snowbanks block off half the street and 2 thoughtless people parked right across the street from each other, blocking off the other half. The driver honked and honked for 5 minuted. I called the owners of the vehicles and left messages but no one picked up. The driver ended up backing all the way down a busy block, which is extremely dangerous. Did the driver know that he would be faced with this situation? no. If someone came up to him in the begining of the development and told him that he would have to back out like that- would he have come in NO! Is it his responsibility to notify the parents that he will not be able to do a house stop on that day? I mean, seriously. Do you live in an alternate reality? And please do NOT tell me this takes place in complexes only. The streets in lakewood are generally more narrow- and 2 way. So this can occur an ANY blcok in town.
1 – I am tired of hearing about the narrow streets by your houses. If you don’t like the narrow streets you should not have moved there.
2 – You can blame the “town fathers” for permitting the narrow streets. Pity if you have a fire.
3 – When I went to school I had to walk one half of a mile to get the school bus. So stop complaining.
4- Knock off the courtesy busing. Most of you live within the 2 mile state guideline. Then you won’t have to worry about the buses getting up the street.
5 – Write a new law – NO PARKING ON ANY STREET IN LAKEWOOD.
Why is 9th street across from the baseball filed double parking?
That should not be allowed.
I find it disgusting that any parent would leave their child to wait at a bus stop with no one to watch over them. What if the child got hit by a car or kidnapped. Whose fault would it have been? The bus drivers? What kind of parent has no sense of responsibility towards their child to assure they have gotten to where they should be? I have seen children as young as five get off a bus with no one to meet them and they have to walk home by themselves, not once but many many times. Where are the parents? Why don’t you watch over your kids as you should? Stop blaming everyone else for your shortcomings and become the parent you should be
if you read the article the parent simply said that “most of the parents went to work or yeshiva” implying not all. FYI in this development there is always a parent waiting with the kids.
the bus company definatly acted irresponsibly by not letting the parents know.
To numbers 1,2,5,6,and 13
if you read the article it simly says “that most of the parents went to work or yeshiva” not all! there is always a parent waiting with the children. who do you think let the other parents know about the fact that their kids were not picked up? the bus company acted irresponsible.
I live on a major MAIN street, fully plowed, yet every so often the bus just doesn’t show up!
It is irresponsible!
My son just waits and waits, and ……
Are they getting paid for these runs?
Can they just decide not to show up?
I don’t know, but in my line of work if I just don’t show up, I get fired.
And I wanna just clarify to my previous comment:
The bus has no excuse that the bus got stuck at a previous stop, as my son is the first kid on the run, and this is the first run for the bus of the day. It is a very early run, like 6:40 AM.
#1 to comment # 7 from Fight Back — there is no “rigged bidding”
#2 to comment # 8 when a township does the bussing it costs the town twice as much $$$$$$$$
# 3 — to # 17 –are you sure that your son is out when the bus comes? if you are and you find that the bs isnt coming to the whole route then you should call the bus company directly and if nothing comes of it call the board of ed with all the details of which bus copany which school and which route you are having trouble with also be sure to tell them which days it has happened and that youve contacted the bus company directly and they simply havent corrected the problem it might also be better if you have all the parents of the complete run call if the bus is not doing the route completley and also call the school to have them call and comlain —