School District

[KB9UDE]

Hey guys,

We are in a bit of a tough decision. Looking for advice and direction.

We currently live out in the middle of nowhere and LOVE it!! The problem is this...
My wife works 40 hours and I work upwards of 60-80 hours some weeks. We have 2 children that go to a babysitter 2 blocks from my wifes work. The lady who watches the kids gives us the best rate around and is really good with the kids and we know she can be trusted with them. If they went to this school the bus would drop them off at babysitter house.
Anyway the oldest will soon be ready for kindergarten. We are gone so much of the time and would not have a chance of being home in the afternoon if kids went to school in the district that we live in. Both of us have very iregular schedules. The cutoff for wifes work district is less than 2 miles over from our house. I have called the other school and they want over 7K per year per kid for out of district tuition. Is there any way for us to send kids there without paying these fees?? We dont have the money to send them at that rate. Our original plan was to build a house in that district but with the economy--we cant do it. What happens if nobody is home when bus tries to drop them off?? Can they really just leave a 5 year old girl in the middle of nowhere by themselves?? We REALLY dont know what to do... Looking for suggestions





.

 

[dave1949]

First I would look for someone in your neighborhood, realize that could be a bit far from home, where the bus could drop off your child. Of course, you need to trust that person with your most valuable possession and they have to be willing.

That's the solution we used for a couple years.

I wouldn't trust that the bus driver wouldn't drop a 5 yr old off in the 'middle of nowhere'. There are substitute drivers who may not be familiar at all with your situation. There are snow days when you can't control the time of arrival, etc.

Beyond that, even if the driver does not drop off your child, what happens next? I think you are leaving way too much to chance there.

Been there and know the frustration and worry that goes with it.
Dave.

 

[tommu56]

My wife is a bus driver in pa but they can't be left off at that age.
I'm not sure but it is Like 11 or 12 for them to be left off by them selves.
Some of the schools have before and after care and the Y provides it too around here it costs but is the only choice.
She started driving bus when we had our tribe and she took them on the bus with her now she has the grand kids with her.

 

[KB9UDE]

We have nobody we can trust this side of the district line. All family and friends are over by where she works...Thats where we grew up. Only reason we live where we do is for cost of living...

 

[forgeblast]

This is what a lot of our parents do at the school I work at. They use their grandparents mailing address and that way they can continue to attend our school. Its a rough situtation, and its difficult, and some districts actually have people who check on residency.
What happens when there is an early dismissal, late start, etc...its something you really need to address. One thing you can do is talk to the kindergarden teachers in your home district they may know of some people who are great for watching kids in your area which would solve some of your problems. Thats what we did, when we had to find someone to watch our little one. I hope it works out, PM me if you have any questions.

 

[KB9UDE]

Even if we had someone else watch her over there we would still have the extra expense of driving 30 EXTRA miles each day to pick up and another babysitting fee.

 

[dex3361]

We had a school district issue and needed our kids to go to a certain school. What we did was get a post office box in the district and this allowed us to enroll our kids in that district. We did this for 6 years before we started homeschooling our kids.

 

[KB9UDE]

We thought about the PO box but district office says we have to show a PHYSICAL address where kids sleep at night...

 

[dave1949]

In the area where your wife works, are there any private or Montessori schools? They may be less expensive than the $7K asked by the school district your wife works in. They don't probably don't provide any transportation.

I understand the economy has messed up your plans, but sometimes you just have to step up to the plate as a parent. Those 30 miles could be great quality time with your child. You may look back and treasure that.
Dave.

 

[KB9UDE]

Finding a sitter over there would almost be impossible anyway due to hours we would need them...Like I said before there is no other sitter like we have now. Another real problem is the drug (meth) problems at the school. I know this can be anywhere but our school district is one of the worst for this.

No private schools options.