Six major holidays coincide with the typical school year. Four of these are “candy” based holidays: Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter. Candy is something I absolutely HATE as a bus driver. Wrappers are constantly found on the floor. Unidentifiable sticky stuff ends up on the seats and seat backs. Mushy goo is typically wedged between the seat and the bus wall. Fluid spills from soda or other sticky drinks run along the floor, then dry, and manage to collect various amounts of nasty sand, gravel, dirt, and the occasional dropped M&M or Skittle. Gum is found pressed firmly within the grooves of the aisle providing sticky goodness to shoes everywhere. Garbage cans are a foreign concept to many children.
Halloween comes in late October, but early in the school year. Along with it comes a plethora of chewy gumdrops, chocolates, lollipops, and other Halloween based items. I find myself picking up Halloween based wrappers right up until January, when the candy supply runs out. Often kids will bring candy in their backpacks to trade or sell on the playground, or simply just to eat as a snack. Sugar City!
Christmas brings assorted jellybeans and peppermint candy canes to the mix. Add in a chocolate Santa and you’ve got a recipe for children bouncing off the walls. Usually these get lumped in with the same candy that’s left over from Halloween, or for the particularly voracious child is thankfully gone by New Years Day.
We experience a bit of a lull in the candy wrappers save a few of the cough drop ones, as it is now cold and flu season. Then Valentines Day hits. Ahh, the day of love and cherishment. A day for a child to express feelings as a secret admirer and to exchange “Be My Valentine” cards with EVERY OTHER child in their class. This, by far, is my favorite of the “candy” holidays as a bus driver. Why? You ask? Because, my dear readers, the children put NAMES on the cards, and I can write them up for eating and drinking on the bus. I know, its grinch-like, but when you’ve been sweeping up wrappers all year, you finally have your culprits in hand and name. All thanks to little Suzie who wrote To: Johnny, From: Suzie on the M&M’s wrapper.
By the time Easter rolls around, I’ve given up on the candy hunting and just resigned myself to sweeping up and praying no child chokes from the piece of hard candy they have in their mouths. Its especially hard as it is increasingly difficult to wade through the masses of backpacks, bodies and other items to get to the child that is choking let alone that child chokes WHILE I drive.
My final pet peeve comes in two forms. One is when a teacher insists on giving out candy as a reward to kids, just before they get on the bus. I will invariably find the wrapper and possibly the sticky residue of the treat the teacher so lovingly gave out. Please stick to pencils, erasers, and stickers!!! The second one is class parties that are given within the last 30 minutes of a school day. The kids are so hyped up by the time they get on my bus to go home, they are bouncing off the walls and are completely out of control. They are loud and obnoxious and the next thing I hear is crying as little Michael decided to pull an Evil Kenevil stunt and landed on his head as he vaulted over the bus seat in a feat of bravery. The crying is eventually drowned out by scads of children loudly screaming as little Jacob decided to projectile vomit ALL of his lunch AND his party foods that he consumed. Believe me folks when I say, projectile vomit of school lunch food and classroom party food is NOT something you really want to see. I just thank God that school buses are covered in rubber and vinyl.
Sugar High,
The Bus Driver
Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The continuing saga of Alternative Boy
This morning I went and turned in the write up for the incident yesterday afternoon. I had the bus shop pull the tape so that I could cue it up and the school could see the behavior in question. The principal of the Alternative School met with me in the office. Our exchange went something like this:
Principal: He got 5 days off for yesterday morning right?
Me: Yes Ma’am.
Secretary: Yes.
Principal: Ok, add another 10 days on top of that for this one.
Me: Ok, Thank you. So that’s 15 total days off the bus?
Principal: Yes, that’s what the protocol is.
Me: Thank you very much.
Excerpts from our current bus policy (taken directly from the handbook):
Riding a school bus is a privilege, not a right. The student who persists in misbehaving on a school bus jeopardizes the safety of everyone on the bus and may lose the privilege of riding the bus. The bus driver is responsible for maintaining discipline on the bus and in this capacity has the authority to assign seats and to make other reasonable demands of students. Any necessary discipline will be administered by a principal or the principal’s designee. In extreme circumstances, bus drivers may deliver a misbehaving student to a school principal or to the police before finishing the route. A student is to ride the bus to which he/she is assigned. Any emergency request to ride a bus not previously assigned to the student should be requested in writing by the parent/guardian.
The bus is an extension of the classroom/school, and the bus driver should be extended the same respect as a classroom teacher. The bus driver has absolute charge of the pupils riding his/her bus. Any offense covered in the Student Behavior Code (Policy JCDA) that occurs en route to and from school and/or on a school vehicle will be dealt with as if it occurred on school property. Also, students are not allowed to eat, drink, or chew gum while on the bus. In addition to the punishment options identified in the Student Behavior Code, administrators are authorized to suspend students from riding the bus for a specified period of one to ten days and require a parent conference before the student resumes riding the bus. During this conference, the administrator, parent(s)/guardian(s), and a student may establish a contract of bus conduct for the student to follow. If necessary, an administrator can suspend a student from bus transportation for the remainder of the school year.
The typical discipline for bus behavior problems goes as follows:
1st Write up – Warning (OR) 3 days off the bus – depends on school and the offense the student committed.
2nd Write up – 3 days off the bus. (This may be skipped to step 3 if the student has already had 3 days off for the 1st Write up)
3rd Write up – 5 days off the bus.
4th Write up – 10 days off the bus.
5th Write up – Loss of bus riding privilege.
Yes, Alternative Boy has earned himself 10 days off the bus for his rude and disrespectful behavior from yesterday afternoon. We shall continue this story when he gets back on the bus in 15 days. The principal didn’t even bother to look at the tape of the incident.
In other news, I need to figure out what I’m going to wear on Halloween. I’m thinking a witch hat and wig and a witch nose if I can find one! Any suggestions?
Loving the Peace and Quiet,
The Bus Driver
Principal: He got 5 days off for yesterday morning right?
Me: Yes Ma’am.
Secretary: Yes.
Principal: Ok, add another 10 days on top of that for this one.
Me: Ok, Thank you. So that’s 15 total days off the bus?
Principal: Yes, that’s what the protocol is.
Me: Thank you very much.
Excerpts from our current bus policy (taken directly from the handbook):
Riding a school bus is a privilege, not a right. The student who persists in misbehaving on a school bus jeopardizes the safety of everyone on the bus and may lose the privilege of riding the bus. The bus driver is responsible for maintaining discipline on the bus and in this capacity has the authority to assign seats and to make other reasonable demands of students. Any necessary discipline will be administered by a principal or the principal’s designee. In extreme circumstances, bus drivers may deliver a misbehaving student to a school principal or to the police before finishing the route. A student is to ride the bus to which he/she is assigned. Any emergency request to ride a bus not previously assigned to the student should be requested in writing by the parent/guardian.
The bus is an extension of the classroom/school, and the bus driver should be extended the same respect as a classroom teacher. The bus driver has absolute charge of the pupils riding his/her bus. Any offense covered in the Student Behavior Code (Policy JCDA) that occurs en route to and from school and/or on a school vehicle will be dealt with as if it occurred on school property. Also, students are not allowed to eat, drink, or chew gum while on the bus. In addition to the punishment options identified in the Student Behavior Code, administrators are authorized to suspend students from riding the bus for a specified period of one to ten days and require a parent conference before the student resumes riding the bus. During this conference, the administrator, parent(s)/guardian(s), and a student may establish a contract of bus conduct for the student to follow. If necessary, an administrator can suspend a student from bus transportation for the remainder of the school year.
The typical discipline for bus behavior problems goes as follows:
1st Write up – Warning (OR) 3 days off the bus – depends on school and the offense the student committed.
2nd Write up – 3 days off the bus. (This may be skipped to step 3 if the student has already had 3 days off for the 1st Write up)
3rd Write up – 5 days off the bus.
4th Write up – 10 days off the bus.
5th Write up – Loss of bus riding privilege.
Yes, Alternative Boy has earned himself 10 days off the bus for his rude and disrespectful behavior from yesterday afternoon. We shall continue this story when he gets back on the bus in 15 days. The principal didn’t even bother to look at the tape of the incident.
In other news, I need to figure out what I’m going to wear on Halloween. I’m thinking a witch hat and wig and a witch nose if I can find one! Any suggestions?
Loving the Peace and Quiet,
The Bus Driver
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