Missing Mr. Ralph

While my two oldest boys, Chip and Corey, were in high school, they had the same bus and same bus driver for all four years. The bus was on time 99% of the time, both for the pickup and dropoff in the afternoon.

For my two youngest children, Ashley and Ronnie, they are lucky if they have only four different bus drivers and busses each school year. There is no consistency from year to year, often from month to month, and that makes it really difficult for both the drivers and aides who need to know my children and the effect of their disabilities, as well as for my children, both of whom do best with a consistent routine. And having the bus arrive on time??? Almost never.

But I finally got lucky with Ashley’s transportation last November. After complaining about the greatly inconsistent schedules of her assigned bus, schedule problems which kept me from ever getting to work on time, Ashley was assigned a new bus and lo and behold, it was a bus driver that she knew!

Mr. Ralph was Ashley’s driver last year for some of the year. He understands her, and often comes up with great ideas on how to make the ride to school less stressful for her. He is always on time which means I make it to work on time. So everything was going great…..until Tuesday of this week.

Twenty five minutes after the allotted pickup time, Ashley’s bus finally shows up with a different driver. As Ashley starts back to her seat, I begin asking the driver to at least radio his dispatcher if he is going to be that late in the future and the dispatcher can call me. Tuesday morning we waiting outside in the sub-freezing temperatures for 30 minutes. The driver immediately went into defensive mode saying he was just a substitute driver. I asked again for a call to the dispatcher in the future, and he just rolled his eyes and turned away.

Wednesday morning the bus was only 10 minutes late, and yet another new driver was in charge. At least she said that she had radioed dispatch, but dispatch never called me. The driver seemed nice enough, but I asked when Mr. Ralph would be back. She said he wasn’t coming back because he had been transferred to another bus.

Deep and heavy sigh…..

Of course, when things are working well, let’s just mix them up again. That seems to be my school district’s philosophy. I completely understand that running transportation for a school district as large as mine is not an easy job. But it is a job that I assume the folks in the department are trained to do. Does it really have to be as difficult as it seems to be?

And why is it always the special education students who have to put up with the most changes? Special education students who do best when life is predictable and routine? Why can’t the bus transportation for my children receiving special education students be as good as it is for regular education students? Maybe, School District, you should try switching the managers of those two departments and see if it makes a difference….

Thankful for Mr. Ralph

I'm thankful for many things during this holiday season - things both big and small. And, one of those things is that Ashley's morning school bus pickup has been changed.

For the first two years of high school, Ashley had a wonderful bus driver named Mr. Ralph. Mr. Ralph is a man of few words, but a man with eyes that reveal his inner heart of gold. He seldom smiles, but you could tell that he liked Ashley. He made many suggestions about how to make her bus ride more pleasant, and he rearranged his pickup schedule so I could make it to work on time.

But this year, even though Ashley was going to the same school, her bus driver and schedule changed, and since the start of school in September, I have been late to work every single day. I've learned though that trying to make a bus change at the start of the school year just doesn't work. The transporation office staff is stressed to the max, and can be downright rude sometimes. So, I let things go for a while.

I did finally call a few weeks back and asked if Ashley could be an earlier pickup. I didn't ask to change the bus or the driver, just that she be one of the first pickups instead of the last. This time the transportation office staff was more relaxed and worked hard to help me.

Instead of a shuffle of pickups for her original bus, they decided to change her bus, and lo and behold, it was back to Mr. Ralph's bus! Ashley and I were both so excited to see him the first day, and happy that his unsmiling face but warm eyes will be what she sees each morning.

AND....And...I made it to work on time finally! Both my boss and I are thankful for that!!

We Shall See

Apparently I ruffled some feathers last week with all my calls and emails about school bus schedules. On Friday, I got a call from the head of transportation and one from the director of special ed. The special ed director even offered compensatory services for the time that Ronnie has missed by being at least 30 minutes late for school each morning.

After I arrived home from work, I got a phone call from the second in command of transportation. That gentleman said that beginning Tuesday, Ronnie would have a different bus and a different schedule. The new schedule has him being picked up at 8:17am.

Of course, the first bus had a promised schedule of 8:20 am so I guess I will have to wait and see if the new bus will actually be on time. I sure hope so...

*****************************

The weekend was difficult with all the 9-11 tributes. I watched hours of shows, almost as much as I watched when the events were originally unfolding. My grief and sadness was just a raw as it was then, and the tears just as plentiful.

*****************************


When I wasn't watching the 9-11 tributes, I was absorbed by my own little marathon of The Good Wife. I never watched the show when it was on TV, but several months ago, I started watching season one on Netflix. After just a couple of shows, I was hooked. I couldn't wait for season two to come out on DVD, which it did this weekend. Now I just have to get in 16 shows before season three starts this coming Sunday!!

Just Go Another Way, Why Don't You?

Do you think I can't see the disgusted look on your face?

Or the impatient drumming of your fingers on the steering wheel?

Do you really think that gunning your motor is impressing anyone?

Or that the way you inch forward over and over again will make us all move faster?

If five minutes is going to make you really late for wherever you are headed, why don't you just turn around and go another way?

I know you live in my neighborhood because I see your car at the same time every morning. Haven't you figured out that the bus that picks up two of my children arrives at exactly the same time each morning?

It takes more than a few minutes for my children to get on the school bus. The aide must get off the bus, open the door to the wheelchair ramp, lower the ramp, help my son back his wheelchair onto the ramp, buckle the safetly strap around him, raise the ramp, shut the door and secure it.

Then the aide must make her way back onto the bus while I help my blind daughter find her way to the bus steps. The aide stands at the top, takes my daughter's backpack, then reaches out to help my daughter get on the bus.

Then after everyone is seated and secured, the bus can move.

And you, very impatient, rude person can speed up, just to get more frustrated when the bus has to stop again.

I'm really glad that you are not one of my co-workers, because if you act that way when two children with disabilities are boarding the bus for school, I can just imagine what an a** you are in the office.

A Wonderful Change!

Today’s blog is about a very rare subject – at least in my life and Ashley’s life. I’m so pleased with the bus staff for this Summer’s ESY, and I feel compelled to state that publicly.

“WHAT!?” you ask. “AREN’T YOU THE PERSON WHO WRITES ABOUT HOW AWFUL TRANSPORTATION IS IN YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT?”

Yes, that would be me. In fact, here are links to some of my past school bus rants – July 2009, April 2009, June 2008, September 2007, July 2007, and again July 2007.

I’m not naïve enough to think my school district transportation services have suddenly healed themselves, but Ashley’s services during ESY this Summer have been stellar.

The driver that picks Ashley up in the morning has met her in the past. He actually remembered her and remembered some of her little quirks, especially the ones that keep her happy during the bus ride. He remembered about her seizures. And most importantly, he seems to genuinely like Ashley.

The aide is new, and perhaps she is taking her cue from the driver, but she also is very pleasant and seems to enjoying Ashley’s presence.

But the thing that ensured these two a spot in the Ashley Hall of Fame is the way they ‘took on’ the teacher when they felt the teacher wasn’t treating Ashley the way they wanted her treated.

They spoke up – they demanded changes – and the changes happened!

Now Ashley skips out to the bus each morning with a big smile on her face, and seems equally happy on the bus trip home. Life is good with this Summer’s transportation, and for just a little while, I’m not going to worry about transportation woes for the upcoming school year.