HoCo School Bus Clusterf*ck

[Biggfoot44]

Wow. I just calculated I used to walk 1.1 miles to/from school, and that is a 21min walk according to Google.
2miles would be a 40min walk. It is good excerize, but would not be fun in the driving rain or foot deep snow without shoveled sidewalks.

We used to walk 1.5 miles each way in the snow , uphill both ways .

The uphill part was humor . But otherwise it was just normal everyday thing , not considered remarkable .

 

[smokey]

Zum is under contract to supply non-diesel powered buses and drivers, supplies diesel powered buses and no drivers? You just gotta love government contracting processes.

2023-143 | MPIA

mpia.hcpss.org

You gotta love it even more when THIS is how they responded to a MPIA request for the contract...

 

[whistlersmother]

I predict River Hill will absorb more of Reservoir and possibly other areas, it is not near capacity I'm told, but all of ML will stay Reservoir, just too close.

Yea. My comment about ML South / Reservoir was more in jest/irony...

 

[smokey]

HoCo school administration is a clusterFk of incompetence right now.
They bunched several things all in one year. Thinking that intentions = logistics. and "saying something will work", makes it work. Well, does not work for the president and won't work for you all.
1) They suck
2) They are incompetent
3) They were in denial of #1 and #2
4) They shifted the school start times later (for the children)
5) Busses
6) Arrogant that #4 was actually going to change behavior.

So, they changed bus companies at the same time as shifting schedules around while cramming schedules to make bussing harder.
Last year, and I"m sure this year is worse, parents are dropping off / picking them up so that traffic is getting worse around the school too.

My daughter is child #4 and luckily she is driving. She goes to HCC in the mornings, then HS after that.

Shifting start times plays havoc on parents that want to drop kids off and then go to work, now they have to go to work later. Plus parents that wait at the bus stop have to go to work later.
Kids that want to work after school will have reduced hours or well, stay up later (which defeats the purpose of shifting start times).

I voted for Kittleman, not enough of us out here. Inner Columbia residents who want the hand outs from the dems voted for him.

Yes to all of this. Shifting times compressed the bus schedule substantially. There is just not enough time for the routes to work well even IF they had all routes covered... which they don't.

Remember also that transportation got hugely burdened by the race-based redistricting THAT WENT IN TO EFFECT DURING THE COVID VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION. My school of 600 kids lost 300 and gained 350 during that race based redistricting process. So instead of having already established relationships with families and students, we had to start from scratch building a new school culture through a computer screen for 60% of our kids. And Magic Mike has the balls to bash the community and staff for attendance issues after kicking students and staff out of the buildings during the past 3 years of covid policies. It's pretty frustrating.

 

[bratgirllcp]

OH LORD I just saw the news on Zum this am bus drivers from another state so glad our kids are grown I feel for the parents

 

[Stoveman]

Now parents are getting an email from the school system indicating that their child was late for school yesterday.

You can't make this shit up.

 

[StantonCree]

On a plus side for HoCo my daughters 2nd grade class has 4 classes with 25 students per class. They hired an additional teacher so shortly there will be 5 classes of 20 students. As a parent I appreciate the smaller class size. I’m also in the horse people section of Howard and seem to be the poorest resident lol.

 

[motorcoachdoug]

Just think of the sh** storm that will happen when a child in 3rd grade is hit by a car because they have to walk to school because they are 3/4 of a mile away.. The whole county is a cluster F*** and the people can eat it for all i care.. They chose the leadership and now they are paying the price...

 

[Tungsten]

I always wondered why people in 3rd world countries live like they do. Now I understand.

 

[whistlersmother]

Now parents are getting an email from the school system indicating that their child was late for school yesterday.

You can't make this shit up.

I wondered about that.

If the kid arrives late on the bus, he/she is not considered late.

But arriving by private means, even before the bus but after the bell means the kid is late.

 

[HRDWRK]

In about 3 weeks it won't be a problem!
Stop all the mean posts!

The school board will close all in school learning for all students.. And of course those teachers need paid.
Lol

 

[Stoveman]

There is a School Board meeting this Thursday, should be interesting....

 

[OldBrokenGrunt]

This is gonna be affecting all of Maryland with these dipshits that keep getting voted in. DEI trumps an actual education for your child. Climate fantasy trumps your child’s ability to safely get to school.
When stupid people put even more stupid people in charge you get A LOT of stupidity.

 

[outrider58]

Lol we just moved to Howard. It was our daughters first day riding a bus. Hers was the last to arrive at the school. She was crying. She will be okay, builds character.

Toughen up kid! Lol

I wounder how MoCo is doing. They used to have a surplus of drivers before the Wu-flu.

 

[Tebonski]

I don't live in Howard but if I did, I wouldn't care if the buses are on time or not. My major priority is that the bus drivers are a diverse group.

 

[D&Ds]

2023-143 | MPIA

mpia.hcpss.org

View attachment 428831
You gotta love it even more when THIS is how they responded to a MPIA request for the contract...

Redacted for your protection.
”Zum is building state-of-the-art facilities on an eight-acre campus in Howard County, bringing in brand new quality buses and equipment.”
They hire a Ca. company to begin service in Md. based on the co. being carbon neutral? For a 5 year contract? None of the local bus services could qualify?

Zum to Roll into Service at Maryland School District

Beginning with the 2023-24 school year, Zum will contract with the Howard County Public School System to provide 250 school buses.

www.schoolbusfleet.com

 

[D&Ds]

This is gonna be affecting all of Maryland with these dipshits that keep getting voted in. DEI trumps an actual education for your child. Climate fantasy trumps your child’s ability to safely get to school.
When stupid people put even more stupid people in charge you get A LOT of stupidity.

 

[minux]

Redacted for your protection.
”Zum is building state-of-the-art facilities on an eight-acre campus in Howard County, bringing in brand new quality buses and equipment.”
They hire a Ca. company to begin service in Md. based on the co. being carbon neutral? For a 5 year contract? None of the local bus services could qualify?

Zum to Roll into Service at Maryland School District

Beginning with the 2023-24 school year, Zum will contract with the Howard County Public School System to provide 250 school buses.

www.schoolbusfleet.com

I can not wait to see what a State of the Art ***BUS LOT*** looks like...

 

[whistlersmother]

There is a School Board meeting this Thursday, should be interesting....

"We hired the super to run the schools."

That will be their response - the only response.

The current board, as in previous boards, are there because they wanted to be elected to do nothing. No more of a lazy do-nothing hive will you find.

 

[mpollan1]

Comment from the linked fable:

"Today's school bus fiasco in Howard County, MD does not agree with the above description of Zum!!!"