Thursday, August 09, 2007

HOT! HOT! HOT!

This is the first year in which my children have attended YR school and also the first time in which they are riding the bus.  The thought never occurred to me that the buses didn’t have air conditioning.  I thought that was a no brainer.  It gets HOT here and this week has been stifling.  When it was in the 90’s and the kids came home from school, their little faces were all red and sweaty.  I asked them that first day if the bus had air conditioning and they all said NO!  I was really not happy about that but they assured me that with all the windows open the breeze kept them cool.  I really didn’t buy that for one second but OK.

So when I first heard that the temps were going to get above 100 degrees this week I thought surely they would cancel school because of the dangers of heat on young children.  You see it all over the TV, be careful with the elderly and very young.  Well school went on as planned.  Recess has been indoors all week for the children so that they don’t get overwhelmed by the heat.  And yesterday, to my utter surprise, they came home on a different bus.  An air conditioned bus.  I was relieved.  Just sitting at the bus stop waiting for the kids was an extreme experience when my car thermometer read 107 degrees this afternoon. This showed that they had some planning in place to help relieve the heat on the bus for the riders.  I am, however, dismayed that this did not occur for everyone.  I should.  No questions asked. 

So the question was are they better off in school or at home.  That is a toss up for me.  I feel that if they were at home, then riding an overheated bus would not be an issue.  But then they would probably be bored watching movies or playing video games all day.  At least in school they are learning something and being productive.  I find that school administrators have made, for the most part, good decisions about recess at our school.  I did just find out that my older child did actually have morning recess but was only allowed to remain outside for 20 minutes max.  At least it was only in the nineties then;)  I don’t really agree with that one but he is at an active age and probably needed to run some outside to burn off excess energy. 

Why does this county still have buses without air conditioning?  For the safety of our children I must insist that this be a high priority if the county is going to continue with YR schedules.  This should have been part of the planning for this and yet somehow they seemed to overlook it.  Was it an honest oversight or a supreme lack of knowledge or caring for our children?  What do you think?

Yes, I completely agree Sheryl!  All buses need to be air conditioned especially if they are going to continue the year round schedules.  This should be a very high priority right now!

Interestingly enough, my son’s bus and driver had changed this morning.  The new bus has air conditioning.  Wonder why!?  I’ve always picked him up in the afternoon so I don’t know what bus took the route home today.

I just saw on NBC17 news that the newly converted YR schools did not get air conditioned buses but that is simply not entirely true.  True, my children’s original bus is not air conditioned but they now have a replacement bus that does, with the same driver.  My son tells me that this bus will not be their permanent bus.  My question is how did some get buses with air and not others?  What was their selection process?

It’s such a shame that kids have to suffer before issues get attention.  I can’t imagine kids getting crammed into a hot bus and having to ride home without A/C.  Unfortunately, this is one of the issues that so many people brought up when we were asking for a true “cost of conversion” last fall.  Shade structures for playgrounds and air-conditioned busses were 2 HUGE concerns.  They were extremely important to parents, but our concerns didn’t seem to even be acknowledged. 

I drive my children to and from school when it’s too hot to walk so fortunately we don’t have to ride the busses.  I’ve heard from friends that it’s been HORRIBLE for the kids, and they’re getting off busses DRENCHED in sweat.

I’m a positive person, but I truly worry about what it will take before something is done about the A/C situation on busses.  Hopefully they won’t wait until someone suffers severe heat stroke (a child or bus driver).  Again, MONEY is needed, and even though this situation was mentioned time and time again by those opposing MYR, it wasn’t planned for with the MYR plan.

Has anyone heard if there is a “solution” being looked at by WCPSS?  I’m really curious to know.  I sure hope so.

P.S.  Even though this blog started as a rhetorical question “With temperatures soaring into the 100’s, are our kids better off in school or at home?“ I do have my opinion.

AT HOME!  We’re tracked out and enjoying our usual summer routine.  We just got home from a week at the beach where we could stay COOL in the ocean during this horribly hot time.  We’ll be at the pool, bowling, ice skating, and visiting museums next week.  We LOVE summer break.

My kids don’t get bored or spend time at home by watching movies and playing video games—we all enjoy “summer activities” together.  I’m sad that we only have 10 more days of our “second summer” before we track back in.

I suppose my children “get bored” on days like yesterday because I stay home.  On days when the ozone levels are extremely high my car is parked.  Since I have moved here I have developed some respiratory issues that seem to clear when I visit home.  Don’t get me wrong, I love it here.  It just seems that with the congestion in the area and the ozone alert days maybe we should be paying more attention to what they say on those days.  Stay home unless absolutely necessary.  So my kids are better off at school on days like yesterday.  My neighbor is tracked out now and she didn’t go anywhere either.  Sorry, I’m just a tree hugger. ;)

My kids just got off the same bus that they have had for the last couple of days.  One difference?  No air conditioning was on.  The kids said that the rear air was blowing out hot air and the front was blowing out cold air.  So they shut it down and opened the windows.  Interesting!

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have just sent the following letter regarding the lack of AC on buses in hopes that WCPSS will consider an early release policy for the upcoming hot days. I would encourage those of you who share this viewpoint to do the same. This letter was also sent to the media and DPI.

Dear Mr. Haydon, Dr. Burns and WCPSS Board of Education members,

We would like to request that you seriously consider enacting the early dismissal policy the remainder of this week due to the continuation of extremely high temperatures and not enough air conditioned buses to transport all year-round students home safely and healthfully. We also make this request for the safety and health of all bus drivers driving unairconditioned buses. The forecast is calling for temperatures above 100 degrees for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. You are surely aware of the numerous reports of heat-related problems on afternoon bus rides home last week, including one bus driver who wisely pulled over and asked her middle school students to call for medical assistance because she felt that she was about to pass out due to the extreme temperatures (a temperature of 117 degrees was reported on this particular bus).

This is a big problem. We strongly urge you to consider the importance of our children’s and bus drivers’ health and safety. This is just as important of a reason to enact the early dismissal policy as snow or ice-related weather. Please deal with this responsibly so students and bus drivers will not have to contend with heat illnesses in the coming days, as they are SURE to occur if something is not done.

I would also like to point out some other observations based on information I received from Mr. Haydon. Approximately 838 buses were in operation for the 2006-2007 school year, and there are 870 planned for use for the 2007-2008 school year. That is a 3.8% increase in buses. During the 2006-2007 school year there were approximately 128,000 students enrolled in the WCPSS, and for 2007-2008 WCPSS projected an increase to 136,000 students. Those numbers represent a 6.25% increase in students expected for this school year. Why the discrepancy?

Furthermore, you can break these numbers down by students per bus for both years:

2006-2007: 152.74 students per bus
2007-2008: 156.32 students per bus

We know not all students ride the bus, but since WCPSS is legally required to hold an optional seat for every student, it appears that you are not planning enough buses for the number of students in the system. Is the formula set up this way based on a lower expected bus usage due to high school drivers and transfer appeals to reassignments, in which case those transfered students must have transportation provided by a parent or guardian? We would greatly appreciate answers to these questions.