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Post by shesgotit on Jun 8, 2025 10:45:48 GMT -6
Our district has a ton of state funding cuts so they are slashing “courtesy bussing” next year. Per NJ-districts only have to offer bussing if kids K-8 live over two miles from school and high school it is 2.5 miles from school. DD2 is going into second next year. We live 1.9 miles away-Google maps says it is a 41 minute walk. We have no clue how we are going to do this next year. Drop is fine but we definitely can’t pick her up. Sometimes I really get frustrated at the state. Like why have another barrier to make attendance harder for families. 😩😬 Are there rec or other afterschool programs? Our ES get out at 2:35, and that is the only way working parents (the majority) do it since most at our school are considered walking distance, but they can’t walk home solo until 4th grade. |
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Post by fancynewbeesly on Jun 8, 2025 11:08:56 GMT -6
Our district has a ton of state funding cuts so they are slashing “courtesy bussing” next year. Per NJ-districts only have to offer bussing if kids K-8 live over two miles from school and high school it is 2.5 miles from school. DD2 is going into second next year. We live 1.9 miles away-Google maps says it is a 41 minute walk. We have no clue how we are going to do this next year. Drop is fine but we definitely can’t pick her up. Sometimes I really get frustrated at the state. Like why have another barrier to make attendance harder for families. 😩😬 Are there rec or other afterschool programs? Our ES get out at 2:35, and that is the only way working parents (the majority) do it since most at our school are considered walking distance, but they can’t walk home solo until 4th grade. Probably. But we have our 14 year old watch her after school every day. They enjoy it. She can’t drive obviously. So why put her in childcare when we don’t actually need it. |
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cakewench
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Post by cakewench on Jun 9, 2025 6:52:33 GMT -6
I am chaperoning DDs trip to Hershey Park tomorrow. There are eight 7th graders in my group. They are already split on activities that they want to do. I haven’t been to an amusement in years! My anxiety level is pretty high today.  (But seriously - my anxiety would be at an 11 too, sending hugs for a great day!) |
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piratecat
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Post by piratecat on Jun 9, 2025 9:58:51 GMT -6
Our district has a ton of state funding cuts so they are slashing “courtesy bussing” next year. Per NJ-districts only have to offer bussing if kids K-8 live over two miles from school and high school it is 2.5 miles from school. DD2 is going into second next year. We live 1.9 miles away-Google maps says it is a 41 minute walk. We have no clue how we are going to do this next year. Drop is fine but we definitely can’t pick her up. Sometimes I really get frustrated at the state. Like why have another barrier to make attendance harder for families. 😩😬 Ugh, that sucks and makes it so hard for so many families. |
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dc2london
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Post by dc2london on Jun 9, 2025 11:56:24 GMT -6
We also had about $22m cut from our district budget for next school year bc we elected an evil muppet for governor bc people were mad about covid
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trueblue
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Post by trueblue on Jun 9, 2025 12:59:19 GMT -6
fancynewbeesly can you put feelers out to other parents around DD2’s age? Maybe there are parents with the reverse problem-no way to get their kid to school but someone to pick them up? Maybe carpool /back up carpool in case of illness or absence situations could be worked out?
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Post by sweptaway on Jun 9, 2025 13:25:04 GMT -6
I am chaperoning DDs trip to Hershey Park tomorrow. There are eight 7th graders in my group. They are already split on activities that they want to do. I haven’t been to an amusement in years! My anxiety level is pretty high today. I hope it went great! I chaperoned a similar group at the zoo earlier this year and it was definitely an adventure. But the older kids can be kinda fun to hang out with |
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beaf12
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Post by beaf12 on Jun 9, 2025 16:55:42 GMT -6
We also had about $22m cut from our district budget for next school year bc we elected an evil muppet for governor bc people were mad about covid We had the same cut d/t mismanagement. But our walk zone is 1 mile and maybe 1.5 for high school. Definitely not 2 miles. |
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klw
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Post by klw on Jun 9, 2025 19:13:41 GMT -6
I am chaperoning DDs trip to Hershey Park tomorrow. There are eight 7th graders in my group. They are already split on activities that they want to do. I haven’t been to an amusement in years! My anxiety level is pretty high today. I hope it went great! I chaperoned a similar group at the zoo earlier this year and it was definitely an adventure. But the older kids can be kinda fun to hang out with It went so good! The kids were all polite and followed directions when needed. The one girl and one of the boys were “a couple”. 🙄😂. But they basically held hands a few times. I think they were trying to be discreet but I didn’t say anything so then they just walked and held hands. Haha But we managed to do some time in the water park, ate lunch then a few more rides. The one girl asked for the zoo so we Went over there. Some of the others didn’t want to go but I felt bad because she had only done one other ride. Now I want to go back with H and DD2 |
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Post by fancynewbeesly on Jun 10, 2025 5:18:45 GMT -6
We also had about $22m cut from our district budget for next school year bc we elected an evil muppet for governor bc people were mad about covid We had the same cut d/t mismanagement. But our walk zone is 1 mile and maybe 1.5 for high school. Definitely not 2 miles. 1 mile I get. For high school state says 2.5 miles. K-8 is 2 miles. It is ridiculous. |
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blurnette989
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Post by blurnette989 on Jun 10, 2025 7:15:30 GMT -6
We had the same cut d/t mismanagement. But our walk zone is 1 mile and maybe 1.5 for high school. Definitely not 2 miles. 1 mile I get. For high school state says 2.5 miles. K-8 is 2 miles. It is ridiculous. that is wild. It was 1 mile where I grew up AND you could not cross any high traffic roads until high school. |
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mapleme
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Post by mapleme on Jun 10, 2025 8:04:09 GMT -6
We had the same cut d/t mismanagement. But our walk zone is 1 mile and maybe 1.5 for high school. Definitely not 2 miles. 1 mile I get. For high school state says 2.5 miles. K-8 is 2 miles. It is ridiculous. Is there a work-around where your kid could bus to a stop 2 miles away and then meet your 14yo and walk back to your house? I know that non-bussers can ride the bus here if they are going to a friends house or somewhere else other than their home. |
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mapleme
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Post by mapleme on Jun 10, 2025 9:16:14 GMT -6
We have no bus for high school, which stinks. We used to not have a bus for middle school, but when they moved the 5th grade to the middle school about 6 years ago parents got the district to agree to add bussing to the middle school. I'm not sure what we'll do for after school at that point.
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addymac
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Post by addymac on Jun 11, 2025 0:28:11 GMT -6
fancynewbeesly does your area do like car transportation groups? For my DS1’s school parents that live on the north side make a group and pay for a private van service to shuttle a group of kids. Idk if that even exists in suburbia but maybe other 1.9 mile parents have the same issue? Or, I like the idea of finding someone to carpool her home. Or, could DD1 pick her up at school and they walk home together? Although that would not work in the winter, I don’t think. Honestly it blows my mind how our society has made having a kid such an issue with work schedules. We pay out the nose for extended day for both boys at school and daycare and we still have to juggle our work schedules around those hours.
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Post by fancynewbeesly on Jun 11, 2025 5:38:40 GMT -6
fancynewbeesly does your area do like car transportation groups? For my DS1’s school parents that live on the north side make a group and pay for a private van service to shuttle a group of kids. Idk if that even exists in suburbia but maybe other 1.9 mile parents have the same issue? Or, I like the idea of finding someone to carpool her home. Or, could DD1 pick her up at school and they walk home together? Although that would not work in the winter, I don’t think. Honestly it blows my mind how our society has made having a kid such an issue with work schedules. We pay out the nose for extended day for both boys at school and daycare and we still have to juggle our work schedules around those hours. What gets me is that the school that DD2 zoned for is the farthest from our house. The other two elementary schools are .8 mile and 1.1 mile. Which is a little bit more feasible. I know DD1 wouldn’t be able to do a 4 mile round trip walk every day to get DD2. |
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dc2london
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Post by dc2london on Jun 11, 2025 13:20:48 GMT -6
fancynewbeesly does your area do like car transportation groups? For my DS1’s school parents that live on the north side make a group and pay for a private van service to shuttle a group of kids. Idk if that even exists in suburbia but maybe other 1.9 mile parents have the same issue? Or, I like the idea of finding someone to carpool her home. Or, could DD1 pick her up at school and they walk home together? Although that would not work in the winter, I don’t think. Honestly it blows my mind how our society has made having a kid such an issue with work schedules. We pay out the nose for extended day for both boys at school and daycare and we still have to juggle our work schedules around those hours. What gets me is that the school that DD2 zoned for is the farthest from our house. The other two elementary schools are .8 mile and 1.1 mile. Which is a little bit more feasible. I know DD1 wouldn’t be able to do a 4 mile round trip walk every day to get DD2. So many of the boundary decisions are mainly political. It's so frustrating. |
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Post by fancynewbeesly on Jun 11, 2025 15:34:18 GMT -6
What gets me is that the school that DD2 zoned for is the farthest from our house. The other two elementary schools are .8 mile and 1.1 mile. Which is a little bit more feasible. I know DD1 wouldn’t be able to do a 4 mile round trip walk every day to get DD2. So many of the boundary decisions are mainly political. It's so frustrating. I actually think it was less political and more along the lines of influx of families in our neighborhood area and at that time-20 something years ago the two other schools didn’t have room for that many new students. |
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klw
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Post by klw on Jun 14, 2025 17:06:56 GMT -6
We were in OC,MD for an air show. Long rain delay so DD and I went for lunch. Found a place that serves fresh pasta and they mix it in a wheel of cheese. Eating Pasta while on the beach is definitely giving IDGAF vibes. 😂  |
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leahcar
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Post by leahcar on Jun 16, 2025 12:10:59 GMT -6
fancynewbeesly, we are having the same issue. Our district cut busses for elementary within 1 mile of the school and 2 miles for middle/high. We ONLY get bussing for high school from my house now despite living in 70s suburbia without sidewalks. We biked first semester and did a weird car/walk hybrid second semester. I will say that there's (finally) some political will for sidewalks. So maybe that will be a nice thing to come from this whole debacle... Rumor has it that some busses will be coming back next year. It's been a hot mess.
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blurnette989
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Post by blurnette989 on Jun 18, 2025 15:42:05 GMT -6
Y'all I'm at DS2's 4th grade grad party and it's a whole to do. It started at 7 pm and is going strong at almost 11. I thought we'd be home already but the grad ceremony is ONGOING. There are only three classes but it is adorable. Thank God they had an espresso machine.
There is also food and a dj.
Also DS2 cried when his teacher gave a speech about the class and I wasn't expecting that. My tenderhearted boy.
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blurnette989
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Post by blurnette989 on Jun 18, 2025 16:45:21 GMT -6
We just got home. Its 11:44 🤣😭🤣
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athn64
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Post by athn64 on Jun 18, 2025 19:19:59 GMT -6
DD1 is in a play this summer and we've been trying to schedule fun things around her rehearsal schedule. She wasn't originally slated to have practice tomorrow so we were planning on going to a zoo a couple hours from home. Director just changed her mind and said they need to be there tomorrow. We're still going. She can miss one rehearsal.
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trueblue
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Post by trueblue on Jun 19, 2025 8:47:37 GMT -6
Any ideas on a good but generic ‘congrats on your retirement as a pilot from the air force’ gift? One of H’s childhood friends has her final flight ceremony* coming up and she asked us to attend as we are local to the base. She’s retiring as a Lt Colonel if that makes a difference. We have never met but she has remained friendly with H and his side of the family through the years.
Budget is probably $100-$150 or so. I don’t want to do flowers as she does not live close by.
*this may not even be what the ceremony actually is, just my understanding of what H told me.
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Post by shesgotit on Jun 19, 2025 8:49:39 GMT -6
Any ideas on a good but generic ‘congrats on your retirement as a pilot from the air force’ gift? One of H’s childhood friends has her final flight ceremony* coming up and she asked us to attend as we are local to the base. She’s retiring as a Lt Colonel if that makes a difference. We have never met but she has remained friendly with H and his side of the family through the years. Budget is probably $100-$150 or so. I don’t want to do flowers as she does not live close by. *this may not even be what the ceremony actually is, just my understanding of what H told me. Restaurant gift card? |
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trueblue
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Post by trueblue on Jun 19, 2025 8:54:34 GMT -6
shesgotit that was one of my ideas I was just hoping to find something more personal. Would it be weird to make a donation to a AF veterans’ organization on her behalf as the present?
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piratecat
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Post by piratecat on Jun 19, 2025 9:41:15 GMT -6
My 8YO got done with school yesterday and has to “survive 2.5 days home all alone with only people that have to work” before camp starts next week. We went to the library to stock up on books and he’s been doing okay so far. 🤞🏻
I had to run to Lowe’s and there were kids parked on the outdoor furniture display with a stack of books. 😅
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athn64
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Post by athn64 on Jun 23, 2025 21:10:34 GMT -6
It's been dangerously hot here the last few days and DD2 has had her softball tournament. At her first game, one of the girls on the opposing team passed out. I feel like maybe they should have delayed the tournament a few days until it cools off slightly.
Oh well, we're out. We lost both our games by 1 point. But the girls played hard.
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Post by sweptaway on Jun 24, 2025 5:37:21 GMT -6
It's been dangerously hot here the last few days and DD2 has had her softball tournament. At her first game, one of the girls on the opposing team passed out. I feel like maybe they should have delayed the tournament a few days until it cools off slightly. Oh well, we're out. We lost both our games by 1 point. But the girls played hard. That seems like a terrible choice to do that in this heat. The district where my sister works had their graduation OUTSIDE yesterday and dozens of people passed out. It's no joke out there. |
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blurnette989
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Post by blurnette989 on Jun 24, 2025 5:39:57 GMT -6
I hope everyone stays safe and cool in this insane heat wave. Keeping all things crossed for a grid system that keeps up. ❤️❤️❤️
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Post by fancynewbeesly on Jun 24, 2025 7:16:26 GMT -6
It's been dangerously hot here the last few days and DD2 has had her softball tournament. At her first game, one of the girls on the opposing team passed out. I feel like maybe they should have delayed the tournament a few days until it cools off slightly. Oh well, we're out. We lost both our games by 1 point. But the girls played hard. That seems like a terrible choice to do that in this heat. The district where my sister works had their graduation OUTSIDE yesterday and dozens of people passed out. It's no joke out there. DD1s 8th grade graduation was last night and she passed out. She was mortified. 😳 |
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