extra curricular activities and bussing

[purslaine]

This is a vent 

Ds is a in a drama club.  They meet at lunch.  3 times in the past 2 weeks, Ds has had to stay late at school.  2 improv contests (they won!) one rehersal.  

I work after school 2 nights a week (yes, those days have co-incided with DS's after school activities) and Dh works.  There is no bussing for these events.  So I get to re-arrange my scheduels, tell him no,  or worry about how DS is going to get home (walk the 4 kilometers on the highway in the dark?  Bum a ride off someone?).  Sigh. DS gives me little notice -  we spoke about that yesterday.

If a club is a lunch time club - it should do most of its things during lunch.  

When I went to school any after school events had busing.  Remember the good old days??

[whatsnextmom]

Bussing for after school activities was never part of "my" old days. I actually was shocked to learn that DD's high school has a late bus 4 days a week to allow kids to stay for clubs and activities. Of course, we're outside of district and so doesn't do any good for us but nice that they offer it.

I lament with you about the short notice. For us, it's partially DD but it's the school too. DD is currently doing the school show and most days she didn't know if she was called into rehearsal until lunch. I just do some freelance work so I'm flexible but 2 hours notice to rearrange the whole afternoon can be very difficult. 

[moominmamma]

I'd never heard of late buses until very recently either. They certainly weren't part of my "old days," nor are they part of my kids' current school. On the other hand, we live outside of the "walkable zone" and yet get no busing because there are only my two kids out this way, so it's a moot point for us. My kids walk on the days I work, or hang out at friends' houses until I can pick them up.

ETA: I see your ds is older. Walking would certainly be the default for him if he lived in my family. We have a bunch of strong LED headlamps and a couple of Planet Bike reflective / flashing LED armbands. A few kms along a highway in the dark is not something that worries me except during bear season! Costs about $20 per kid, but hey, safety is worth a few bucks.

Miranda

Edited by moominmamma - 12/13/11 at 3:02pm

[34me]

We got out of school at 2ish, there was the 3:15 activity bus and the 5:30 sports bus when I was in school and that district still does it - but they definitely pay for it in their taxes.  We are lucky that my kids can ride their bikes because we have nothing.  And my oldest son plays on a lacrosse team that is a unified high school team.  It takes all four HS's to make up one team.  And of course they practice across town right after school...

[purslaine]

Originally Posted by moominmamma 

ETA: I see your ds is older. Walking would certainly be the default for him if he lived in my family. We have a bunch of strong LED headlamps and a couple of Planet Bike reflective / flashing LED armbands. A few kms along a highway in the dark is not something that worries me except during bear season! Costs about $20 per kid, but hey, safety is worth a few bucks.

Miranda

That might work.  I am worried about cars not seeing him on the highway - nothing else.   I had thought of those coats with the big "X" on them, but figured he would not wear it.  An arm band or two might work.

Edited by purslaine - 12/13/11 at 6:17pm

[KCMichigan]

I did after school activities in MS/ HS and there were no late buses.

If you did not ride the bus home at 2:15, you had to either get a ride with friends/siblings or have family/parents pick you up. We often rotated whose parents picked us up when we were under 16, after 16 we carpooled.

Some people walked to the local library until their parents could get them.

Although, all my after school activities were well known in advance and almost always the same day or everyday of the week.

'Clubs' were at lunchtime with occasional after school events (but they were optional).

[One_Girl]

Can you get him a few string lights and a bike? That distance doesn't should take twenty minutes tops on a bike. Bussing for late night activities was also not part of my childhood and my parents only picked me up occasionally if the weather was awful and they felt like it. Other than that I had to bike and I am glad I built up those muscles now that driving is so pricy.

I do understand how frustrating it is to have so many activities at times when working parents probably can't attend. You would think there would be more focus on finding more compatible times to hold events by now.

[purslaine]

Originally Posted by One_Girl 

Can you get him a few string lights and a bike? That distance doesn't should take twenty minutes tops on a bike. Bussing for late night activities was also not part of my childhood and my parents only picked me up occasionally if the weather was awful and they felt like it. Other than that I had to bike and I am glad I built up those muscles now that driving is so pricy.
I do understand how frustrating it is to have so many activities at times when working parents probably can't attend. You would think there would be more focus on finding more compatible times to hold events by now.

We are heading into winter - but yes, biking is somewhat feasible during Fall and Spring.  He does have a bike.

Interesting how many of you did not have late bussing.

I am not horrified by the lack of late bussing, but I do wish they had laid out clearly any after hours expectations at the beginning of the year.  I might have invested in arm bands by this point, lol.  

Some of it may be DS fault for failure to communicate with me - but it might be the schools as well  - they do seem to do some last minute after school schedueling.  

[Peony]

I live in the same rural area that I grew up in. I had access to a late bus through middle school, they stopped it in 9th grade I believe. It didn't go to our houses but had one loop and would drop off at 3 different locations over 20+ miles (very rural area) and then you had to get home from that location on. Our drop off was 5 miles from our house and my mom would pick me up there. I loved it because it allowed me to run track. Once it was stopped then I was not allowed to do any extra curricular activities. They still don't run them today, if your child does anything after school, you are responsible for the transportation. 

[CarrieMF]

no late busses here  or where I grew up either.  You needed to find your own ride to & from any events.   Growing up if we had an event outside of our town the coach would drive 1 vehicle &  student would drive another vehicle, no busses to & from events unless they were during school hours & you'd be back before the busses were needed at the end of the day.

I would rather rely on another parent than have my kid walking home in the dark on the road.

[whatsnextmom]

I expect a lot of this is depends on the school, it's location and it's average student. DD's school has late busing because it's a magnet school with kids from all over the county. Only those in the "city" are served transportation wise but the city is like the 6th largest in the country. It can still take 30 minutes to drive to the school and still be in the city border. It's an arts focus school and so it's often required that kids will be after. Now, our local district does not have late busing but almost every student lives in the area. It can be a longish walk but not impossible for most students. They pretty much only offer after school sports and lunch clubs. There is a city bus that stops close and can take you to all the major areas and to be honest... cost is not much more than the school bus. This is generally the choice option as in our area, kids can't drive other minors outside of siblings until they have been driving a full year.

Our county is very rich in outside enrichment for kids. There are 62 youth theatres for example, countless sports leagues for a multitude of sports not even offered at school, every museum has some program through high school level, ect. As school budgets are cut, many families start looking elsewhere for quality training and experiences. Again, public transportation is our friend lol.

[Linda on the move]

We didn't have late buses when I was growing up.

The public high schools where I live have them. It is considered very important for curbing all sorts of bad teen behavior, like sex and drugs. Most teens kids are unattended if they go straight home from school and do not have a parent who can pick them up. Encouraging after school activities and making them realistic for the students is a priority.  The Ys and Parks and Rec centers all have things going on in this time slot, too, so kid who live where they can walk to ride a bike to one have even more options

[karne]

We had minimal after school bussing--one drop off, and you walked from there.  For me, it was about 1/2 an hour to walk home.  I did it most of the school year, 5 nights a week, in order to participate in sports.  Most kids I knew did the same.

If you can get a reliable schedule, maybe you could have your ds arrange a carpool.  Seems like he needs, and should be able to, come up with an advance schedule.  My middle schooler is responsible for communicating her after school schedule.  It's one of those things that gets put on the family planner-if it's not on there, it's probably not going to happen.

[JudiAU]

Honestly, I'd be grateful for any bussing at all. Many school districts now charge the actual cost or don't provide it all.

I think this sounds mostly an issue with DS's communication. I really doubt that had a competition without advance notice. It might be worth dropping a note to the teacher and asking for any late days a week in advance.

[redvlagrl]

Well, where I grew up there was not special school bussing like in Nth America, but we had a free bus pass to use the city bus/trains/subway. So from age 10 I had basically free rein on public transit and I loved it. Could you kids take a city bus at least partially?

[purslaine]

Originally Posted by redvlagrl 

Could you kids take a city bus at least partially?

Not at all.  We are surrounded by corn and dairy fields - no bussing here!

Truthfully, it is up to Ds to get a friggin schedule and communicate it with me.

It is also up to the school to produce one.

I do wish the school and/or DS had been clearer about the after school components to some activites from the beginning; it probably would not have affected his participation, but a heads up would have been nice.

In other news, he recently had a field trip that ended after hours.  This was a little more annoying - as it is related to actual curriculum (was part of a course he is taking).  Ideally, it should have ended before bus time or an extra bus should have been put out - but I do understand budgets and the like.

I have glow in the dark tape on my to-buy list - he can walk if he needs to. 

Edited by purslaine - 1/1/12 at 7:59am

[Emmeline II]

My elementary and first HS were inside my neighborhood so most students could walk home; no after school busing. My middle school was outside my neighborhood and had students from several different neighborhoods on a road without sidewalks so it wasn't that safe to walk (I did sometimes to avoid people on the bus) --that didn't work for after school though as it was definitely unsafe to walk at night. The city bus wasn't a practical option and didn't have many stops.

[JollyGG]

My kids aren't that age yet so I'm not sure but I don't believe we have any late busing here. Heck it was a battle to get any busing. Mine are still elementary aged. In a few years when my son is middle school age he will just have to figure out the city busing and then walk or ride his bike the 2 miles home from the closest bus stop, get a ride with a friend, hang out at the school until I can get him, or walk to the nearest library or community center until I can get him.

When I was a kid there was no late busing. There were generally two practice slots at the middle school level for after school sports. There was a time from 3:00-4:00 and a time from 4:00 to 5:00 and your practice usually rotated between the slots (two gyms, multiple sports). So there were adults at the school until 5:30ish. Most kids walked around downtown to fill time before or after their practice or hung out in the gym or lobby doing homework and visiting until parents picked everyone up after work. At the high school level most people drove and even if you didn't drive you could usually get a ride with a friend.

[mtiger]

We had no busing at all when I was in HS. Our local HSs used to have late busing, but budget considerations cut them. My daughter's school has busing to/from, but that's it. They have no after-school activities - all the kids who want to attend them at their home HS. If you want your child to participate, you arrange for transportation. Yes, we have had times when an extra rehearsal or practice has been scheduled, or one has been cancelled, and then I expect my kids to figure out a ride or walk. Well... before they could drive themselves.

[Polliwog]

We had a "late bus" when I was in middle and high school (back in the late 70s/early 80s.) I have NO idea if they have them here.