School bus driver refused to drop my daughter home

If it was a 15 min walk I'd say that was fair enough, but a 15 minute drive can be quite a distance walking wise, when you think how far you can drive in 15 mins. I do sometimes think people who drive everywhere can forget that. I think a grown adult would be quite miffed about it never mind a 13 yr old! It definitely deserves to be looked into.

Just like everything in life it will boil down to price. The current company has bid on the contract. It will be based on the location of the pick-up/drop off, which will likely be a central point. Most of the time they are obliging the parent or child by going the (literally) extra mile. In the same way if there is space on the bus they will transport siblings that don't qualify for transport.

I have lived rurally majority of my life so know that a road up to 1 farm can be a mile long. Providing the child is within 3 miles of that road end, then it is up to the family to arrange further transportation if there is no grace and favour from the bus driver.

Unless the OP is 100% the girl is entitled to collection from her door, I'd suggest she be cautious.

Yup, that's why its so important that parents model calm behaviour. My teens often get public transport to the nearest city and it's so important that they know that if something goes wrong it's fine. It can be sorted. You can't let them get to a point where they are afraid to do things by themselves in case something goes wrong or if something does go wrong not only have you got to fix the problem you've got to deal with a panicked kid too.

Nothing bad happened. Op was there to collect the kid. A little talk afterwards about what to do if it happens again is all that is needed.

You really don't have a clue do you!

You do that 🤷🏻‍♀️. I'd never pick my kids crying and panicking and fighting with a bus driver, too much drama for me. We all favour different things.

OP has said it's her home stop which is on a route and which other pupils can use. No-one suggests he was supposed to take her to her front door. I don't understand why you keep banging on about this?

I am confused as to how its a safeguarding issue. All the teenagers in our village who get private school buses are not met at the stop by an adult. They often walk another mile or so home from the stop, by themselves. This is because its generally considered acceptable for secondary aged children to be out and about without parents. She was with other kids, her mum had been notified of the need to collect her. He's just a bus driver. He doesn't have parental responsibility for a 14 year old. When shit goes a bit wrong with transport its up to the parents ~who chose a school miles from home~ to collect their kids, not other people.

If your DC got the train to school and there was a signal failure the train driver wouldn't ring all the parents and wait with teenagers. They'd have to ring their parents and wait around until a lift appeared, or ring a cab, or get a bus instead.

I know which one I'd rather be. The one who stands up tp lazy, incompetent men.

I am confused as to how its a safeguarding issue. All the teenagers in our village who get private school buses are not met at the stop by an adult. They often walk another mile or so home from the stop, by themselves. This is because its generally considered acceptable for secondary aged children to be out and about without parents. She was with other kids, her mum had been notified of the need to collect her. He's just a bus driver. He doesn't have parental responsibility for a 14 year old. When shit goes a bit wrong with transport its up to the parents ~who chose a school miles from home~ to collect their kids, not other people.

If your DC got the train to school and there was a signal failure the train driver wouldn't ring all the parents and wait with teenagers. They'd have to ring their parents and wait around until a lift appeared, or ring a cab, or get a bus instead.

That is his fucking problem - he has a responsibility here!!!

It's a clear safeguarding breach.
You need to contact whoever organises the bus - not the bus company - it will either be a school or county education dept arrangement. They will be horrified to know that their contractor - who is supposed to be safeguarding trained would dump a kid at a bus stop with no means of getting home when their contract wad to get her home.

If the route was that much of an issue the driver could have explained to dd that the route was an issue and was there any chance she could be picked up from another point on the route. If hmshe could arrange this then he should have waited with her until her pick up arrived. That way he was covering his duty of care. If, as it sounds, he left her at the stop and drove off I would not expect him to be driving a school run again once reported. (And if he is I'd be clear with dd she is to report to you/school any comments he makes as having got away with it he will think he can do/say as he likes sadly.).

@Coruscations

As it is a bus I'd suspect it will be an organised route by the school. In which case I am doubtful it will be a direct to the house kind of deal.

Yet me and my kids are the ones being calm and getting on with life, meanwhile the Ops daughter is crying and she is getting into fights with bus drivers. I know which one I would rather be.

Its very difficult.

What if the bus driver has a child of their own and is already very late to collect them and they are waiting somewhere for him, also at risk of harm? What if he has caring responsibilities to get home for?

Does the bus driver know your DC has autism? You may find that if she can't cope with this sort of transport mishap that most other teenagers would be able to handle, due to her autism, that you will have to have more contingency plans & special arrangements in place for her.

Yes and the contract is normally local pick-up and drop off points. The kids (or their parents) are expected to be able to get to the local collection points. It is the same as expecting pupils within 3 miles of the school to be able to walk in and home.

Yet me and my kids are the ones being calm and getting on with life, meanwhile the Ops daughter is crying and she is getting into fights with bus drivers. I know which one I would rather be.

Yet again, this is a contractual arrangement with an independent school. If the bus company wants to keep its contract - and you can be pretty sure it does - it won't start imposing arbitrary conditions like this on individual parents.

Then you have extraordinarily low expectations for something you're paying for.

Some people have these things called jobs they need to be at, and other responsibilities at that time.

Come on - I am a grown adult and i would panic if I was dropped a 2hr walk away from my home and expected to walk along roads with no paths with 60mph traffic, in the dark! It’s very normal this would upset a child

Bloody hell do you not get out much?

No one said she had to walk. She's a teenager. She just had to wait at a bus stop there with friends until a lift got sorted.

At exactly this age i got stuck at manchester bus station at 10pm. A coach driver just left me there, having not told me the connecting bus (by same company on one ticket) was meant to get to a relatives house wasnt running. I had to wait 45 mins for a lift. I didn't panic & lose my shit!!