high school students suspended for riding bikes to school

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Originally Posted by salsabike

I am guessing this is true--not a school district choice, but one stemming from case findings.

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I seriously doubt it. My guess is that they are responsible only if they transport the kids. If they transport then they took on the duty and thus the responsibility of insuring safe transportation.

If the bike ride was sanctioned by the school then maybe there could be some responsibility on the part of the school. But it wasn't. If the school uses crossing guards then maybe there is a claim if the crossing guards are negligent. But that also wasn't an issue here. The school just can't be responsible for what it has no control over.

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Originally Posted by Savra

The buses where I live drop kids off at EVERY block and the smaller kids are dropped off at their house. My niece picks up the bus at our corner (right next to our house) even though there is another stop just at the next block (a house length away). It's ridiculous. And when she tried just getting on at that stop - the bus driver threatened to write her up. Where when I was a kid there were rows upon rows of places to lock up your bike - now it is rare if a school has one small place for bikes. No wonder our country is filled with obese kids.

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I AM a school bus driver and in the day and age of school of choice it's all about politics. Parents get really mad when their kids can't be picked up right in front of their house, even if it's not a safe or legal stopping point. It causes a lot of wear and tear on the bus to stop and start more than necessary but if we don't cater to them they threaten to move their kids out of the district which doesn't make any sense because then a bus won't pick them up at all! And of course if they do that our school loses funding. Our government here in Michigan is not pro school.
About the write up for your niece, I have been to training sessions where we watch videos about liability cases. Suppose a child walks to a bus stop that they are not assigned to and something happens to them. In many cases the parents can and are allowed to sue the school or transportation company. There is no personal responsibility anymore. The lawyers have seen to that. A write-up is documentation that something potentially unsafe has been dealt with, although I think it's better to communicate with students and parents through a phone call or meeting to get a positive outcome.