The Waukesha Freeman on Wednesday told the sad tale of a little girl who waited for her bus all day only to discover that during Summer School the bus isn't running in Oconomowoc. Apparently it didn't occur to her mommy that during the summer the school bus schedule might change. Indeed, because the cost of running the shuttle bus from Summit Elementary School to Oconomowoc High School was rather prohibitive, the 11 year old daughter of Sue Monday will just have to hitchhike to her summer gymnastics class.
Sue Monday's reaction? "I cannot be here at 10 in the morning, so what am I supposed to do?" Her husband, Steve Monday, was even more disturbed by the news. "I think it was just handled very poorly to make a cut like that and not inform anybody."
According to the Freeman, since the dropping of the bus route only affected one class, the summer gymnastics class, the school board suggested that maybe they could make a scheduling change, or maybe the parents could set up a car pool. The Mondays asked if a teacher could drive the students, but that was rejected.
What is wrong with this story?
1. Mrs. Monday didn't check ahead of time to see if the bus was running. This was the fault of a) the school district, b) the taxpayer, c) definitely not the parents, d) all of the above. Hopefully the kid will remember to bring a pocket full of bread crumbs the next time mommy is in charge of the kid's academic schedule. The summer school gymnastics brochure didn't mention anything about transportation, so of course the Mondays would assume a taxpayer funded bus service would be available. And when they stay at a hotel that doesn't mention a swimming pool in their brochure, there better be a swimming pool, dammit.
2. When confronted by the impossibility of meeting the required schedule for her child to attend a summer gymnastics class, did Sue Monday a) look in the Yellow Pages for a different gym class for the kid, or b) demand the school system provide her with taxpayer subsidized transportation. Given most teachers' salaries, the Mondays' suggestion of having a teacher drive the kids would have been the most expensive cab ride outside of Manhattan Island.
3. The Oconomowoc School District is looking to borrow $900,000 for "maintenance" costs. During this time of supposedly tight school budgets, summer school is a) for necessary remedial academics only, or b) for a gymnastics class that competes with the private sector and the YMCA. Unless the kid flunked gym class, maybe the taxpayers of Oconomowoc should be wondering why they're paying for the little Monday kid to be practicing the pommel horse.
