Friday, August 10, 2007

I HATE DUTCH CR'S WHO FEEL THEY ARE BETTER THAN ME...HERE'S A PIECE OF MY MIND!

To: The Southwest Transportation Committee
From: Doug & Christine
CC: Jack, Bob, Terry, Jane
Date: August 9, 2007

We are writing to express our disappointment and concern over the New Life, New Lenox bus route. It is our understanding that this year the bus route has been redesigned to include two bus routes in order to conserve gasoline and cut costs. The consequence of that decision is that our children have to get on the bus 25 minutes earlier than last year and off the bus 30 minutes later than last year. The actual times are on at 7:05 and off at 4:36; that is a 9 ½ hour day for my 5, 8 and 10 year old children. This consequence, in our opinion, is too high. It has been presented to other concerned parents that this long day is because of our choice to live outside of the boundaries but we believe this consequence our children have to make is because of your decision to combine the bus routes because of the monetary bottom line without considering the individual students it effects.

The individual students include JB and AE who are 5 years old and entering full day kindergarten which alone will be a big adjustment, JM a 6 year old who is entering first grade, EB and OE who are 8 years old entering third grade and CB, CE and JM who are 10 years old, entering fifth grade. It concerns us that the committee finds it appropriate to have these children travel for more than an hour on the bus both in the morning and in the evening.

In the winter, these children will be getting on the bus in the dark and off the bus in the dark. They will have to go hours without eating, have severely limited time to do homework or any other outside activities that would encourage their personal growth. Their daily schedule will consist of getting up at 6 am traveling on the bus for over an hour, spending 6 hours in school, traveling on the bus for over an hour again in the evening, getting off the bus close to 5pm, eating dinner and going to bed at 7:15pm in order for them to be well rested enough to learn the next day at school. We believe that this schedule will negatively impact their learning ability and severely impact their ability to get enough sleep, time to be with their families or time to be a child.

We urge you to reconsider your decision to combine the bus routes, not for our personal comfort but for the sake of the students. We urge you to reconsider the boundaries that exclude our families. We understand that the bottom line needs to be considered but we also believe that the school has a responsibility to consider the learning environment it is creating both on campus and through the buses it provides.

Concerned Parents,
Doug and Christine

7 comments:

Jen said...

Great letter! You might want to remove the personal info, though. Hope it changes things!

Lisa @ Heaven Sent said...

You go girl! Keep us posted on the outcome.

one hot momma said...

WELL SAID!

Carol said...

I told ya you were good at knowing how to state things in a concrete and persuasive way! Good job.

i am not said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
i am not said...

I think your letter was good, well-thought out and well intentioned. I do have to agree, though, that you might want to remove the personal info. Since I know JH personally I can't just sit back and let him be grouped in with "dutch CR's who feel they are better than" others. I have always found him to be quite the opposite, actually. I would be surprised if JDV's parents would group him in that, too, since I think they're cousins. He's also a lawyer. I would just be very, very careful about what you're writing on the internet - take it from someone who has learned the lesson the hard way...

I think the letter is great, but please be careful about what you're posting in such a public forum.

Anonymous said...

Gasp!!! Oh, no you don't ISD! ACK! I am completely with you! This is absolutely absurd! Of course, this is coming from a parent seriously considering homeschooling due to issues such as this. :)

I think your letter is just awesome but keep in mind...this is your letter. Regarding you, & your husband, & your family (& personal friends). Post what you want to post (I see you removed actual names which was probably wise...last names, at least) & don't let the word "lawyer" threaten you in any way. Don't let others manipulate you in what your heart tells you to say - you say what YOU want to say & I think YOU said it great!

Keep us posted! :)