OUR LITTLE CORNER OF THE WORLD. School kids in crisis? Perhaps not a crisis, but certainly an extreme intense situation that we've never seen before. Kids are back in school... Probably everyone thought ... finally. Unforeseen issues that the powers to be should have expected. Complicated by covid issues, there is a shortage of teaching staff. Add to this increased overall student total attendance. Large class sizes and Logistics of coping with the huge influx of students has strained things beyond reasonable limits. Add to this the continuing excessive heat wave and mask mandates and there's a recipe for complete misery. Complicate this by an extreme shortage of bus drivers, again due to covid. People simply don't want to take the risk of driving a bus full of the largest segment of unvaccinated population... school age children. The reality of the situation is unimaginable. Kids wait outside in the heat to get on hot buses, then required to wear masks on the hit bus. The 15 minute car ride is 90+ minutes by bus... in the sweltering heat. Due to the shortage of drivers/buses, the second wave of students have to wait outside in the heat of the direct sunlight for the buses to complete their first run and return to pick them up for their ride home. Usually home by 3-3:30, now not getting home until after 6pm... being subjected to the heat from 2:15 dismissal. Add to this the insanity for the amount of cars picking up students in leu of them riding the buses. First hand experience yesterday was truly unbelievable. Parents in cars, picking up students completely jammed all the high school parking lots, the pick up loops, the access road, and stretching back to the highway. This distance was over half a mile. It is no doubt easily 10 times what is was last year. The wait time to pick up car rides exceeds an hour. The cars waiting line blocking incoming buses from getting in to pick up the first round of riders. Sheriff Deputy's were everywhere trying to control the congestion. Complicated by there being only one access road into school. Complete chaos to say the least... semi organized... but still chaos.
QUESTIONS: Does school really need to start in August? Do second wave bus students really need to wait outside for 90 minutes waiting? What about rainy days?
Just another covid side issue... yet to be worked out. Or perhaps this is the new normal.
