"I'm sorry for all the publicity"?! The Hell?!
I'm grateful that my child doesn't ride an Alexandria school bus. I'm infuriated for those who do, though. From an email I received today:
Dear Neighbors & Friends,
It happened again in less than a month! Another kindergartner was
allowed to disembark from a bus without an authorized adult present to
receive her. This happened in Old Town yesterday to a female student
attending Lyles Crouch. The child was dropped off more than a block
away from her house. The mother found her distraught daughter at the
front door of their home. I spoke to the child's mother and she said
her daughter is scared and does not want to ride the bus again. The
bus driver was a substitute and claims that he/she did not know that
the child was a kindergartner. The parents met with Principal Zissios
and a representative from the transportation department this morning.
The child's mother reached out to me because she read about what
happened to my son on Oct. 5. See:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/parents/a-parents-nightmare-a-child-is.html
Last week, I tried to bring this matter to the attention of the School
Board at their bi-weekly public meeting and I received an inadequate
response. All I got were animal doodles on buses accompanied with,
"I'm sorry this happened to you and your family. We're working on it."
No discussion. No questions. No dialogue. No specific course of
action.
There is a growing crisis of confidence in the school system among
parents in Alexandria because of incidents like this. On Sunday, Mayor
Bill Euille himself expressed his concern about this to me and said,
"I'm sorry for all the publicity."
If you want to contact the school board, click here:
http://www.acps.k12.va.us/board/members/
If ACPS continues to treat these cases in the lackadaisical manner as
it has over the past 3 weeks, it is only a matter of time before a
child is seriously hurt. I am a proud, active citizen of Alexandria,
but this matter is a complete embarrassment to the City and it is my
hope that it will be appropriately addressed in the near future.
Please feel free to forward/post this message appropriately so we can
bring awareness of this problem and advocate as a community for a
positive change on our children's behalf.
Dear Neighbors & Friends,
It happened again in less than a month! Another kindergartner was
allowed to disembark from a bus without an authorized adult present to
receive her. This happened in Old Town yesterday to a female student
attending Lyles Crouch. The child was dropped off more than a block
away from her house. The mother found her distraught daughter at the
front door of their home. I spoke to the child's mother and she said
her daughter is scared and does not want to ride the bus again. The
bus driver was a substitute and claims that he/she did not know that
the child was a kindergartner. The parents met with Principal Zissios
and a representative from the transportation department this morning.
The child's mother reached out to me because she read about what
happened to my son on Oct. 5. See:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/parents/a-parents-nightmare-a-child-is.html
Last week, I tried to bring this matter to the attention of the School
Board at their bi-weekly public meeting and I received an inadequate
response. All I got were animal doodles on buses accompanied with,
"I'm sorry this happened to you and your family. We're working on it."
No discussion. No questions. No dialogue. No specific course of
action.
There is a growing crisis of confidence in the school system among
parents in Alexandria because of incidents like this. On Sunday, Mayor
Bill Euille himself expressed his concern about this to me and said,
"I'm sorry for all the publicity."
If you want to contact the school board, click here:
http://www.acps.k12.va.us/board/members/
If ACPS continues to treat these cases in the lackadaisical manner as
it has over the past 3 weeks, it is only a matter of time before a
child is seriously hurt. I am a proud, active citizen of Alexandria,
but this matter is a complete embarrassment to the City and it is my
hope that it will be appropriately addressed in the near future.
Please feel free to forward/post this message appropriately so we can
bring awareness of this problem and advocate as a community for a
positive change on our children's behalf.