Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992 TAG: 9203210132
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Today's typical bus driver often picks kids up from a grandparent or baby sitter in the morning. In the afternoon, that driver may not see those same kids - some of whom take a different bus to a different place - but may see some other kids who ride that bus only in the afternoon to a friend's house or day care center, after having taken a different bus that morning.
Sound confusing?
"It is confusing," says Roanoke school-bus driver Patsy Colley.
It's a problem that has resulted from an increase in the number of broken homes, single-parent homes and homes where both parents work during the day.
Teachers and bus drivers complain it has put more of a burden on them. Instead of being responsible for kids during the school day, they say they're held responsible for children before and after school, too.
And it's a problem that could lead to some dangerous situations. Such as last week when 5-year-old Scottie Wimmer got on a bus he wasn't supposed to get on and spent 32 hours huddled beneath a piece of plywood after he became disoriented and scared.
"I'm surprised more of this kind of thing doesn't happen with the number of kids who ride those buses," said Monterey Elementary School Principal George Bell.
"It's a challenge . . . . The problem comes from parents who are trying to juggle schedules."
That was the case with Scottie's mother, Annette Gibson, who works during the day and had sent a note with her son to Virginia Heights Elementary School asking that he be allowed to walk to a baby sitter's house near the school, instead of riding the bus.
Since the March 12 incident with Scottie, city school officials have tried to take steps to prevent a repeat incident.
Notices have gone to parents asking them to send detailed notes with their children when there is to be a change in their before- or after-school schedule, said Assistant Superintendent Richard Kelley.
Bus drivers also may be required to carry a list of the names of persons who will meet kindergarteners at bus stops, Kelley said, although that is still being discussed.
Kelley also met with city school-bus drivers Tuesday to discuss the rules for transporting children. For example, no child can get on or off at a different bus stop without a note from a parent, teacher or principal. And if the driver isn't sure whether a child should be dropped off somewhere, they should take them back to school or to the transportation garage.
Transportation director Chauncey Logan said that happens at least once or twice a week.
"There's a little more pressure on drivers now," Logan said.
As bus driver Richard Casey said: "I'm not a baby sitter."
But some drivers feel that way.
Kelley said that when he met with drivers on Tuesday, some were concerned that there are no adults waiting at bus stops for some of the younger children. It raises a larger question, he said: "Where does the school's responsibility start and where does it stop?"
Kelley told bus drivers Tuesday that it's supposed to stop when the child steps off the bus, he said. "The bus drivers have got enough to worry about."
Parents need to take more responsibility for their children, said Gary Waldo of the Roanoke Education Association, the teachers group.
Parents are dumping more of their problems on schools, bus drivers, and teachers. It should be the parent's responsibility to make sure a child gets on the right bus or gets to a baby sitter, Waldo said.
"Maybe it's a function of broken homes. Maybe it's a function of dual career families with two working parents . . . . But teachers right now are getting real concerned about lack of parental involvement," Waldo said.
Teachers get the feeling lately that "highly complex societal problems" are "being dumped on them."
Monterey principal Bell said: "Because of the nature of society and the way of the world, we have to bend over backward."
"A lot of it boils down to using your own judgment," said bus driver Colley. And while her judgment has never been questioned, it is a burden to be responsible for other people's children, she said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.