First Day Blues

Stella started the school year today at the same District 75 program she was in over the summer. Unfortunately, the bus situation became a major drag. We put her on the bus at 6:45 a.m., then got Bobby ready and dropped him off around 8. I called Stella's school to make sure it was Ok for us to visit, got three separate numbers to call and got no answer, really, so we headed over anyway.

It was a good thing, because when we arrived, her teacher Mrs. T., was standing outside and thought we were bringing Stella. Her bus had not arrived. It was 9:15 by this time, and school started at 8:20. Five billion phone calls and many minutes on hold later, Bob determined that her bus had broken down en route, so the company had to send a replacement. It did not arrive until 10:00. She missed the school breakfast. But she was glad to see us (esp. Dad) and we walked her to the room, and had plenty of time to chat with the "Psych coordinator" (i.e., school psychologist) for the special ed program, who is brand new and very nice. We also found out, to our delight, that Stella had indeed been getting all three therapies (speech, PT, and OT) over the summer and her IEP is being fulfilled at school (which was not the case when she first started there in May). Mr. S, the Psych Coordinator, gave us a tour of the floor and we got to meet her therapists, all very nice.

Bob filed a formal complaint with the Office of Pupil Transportation--meanwhile, I called the pediatrician's office to confirm that he had written a letter stating that she could not be on the bus longer than an hour for medical reasons. Bob will be showing up at the school again tomorrow to give Mr. S. the letter and see what time her bus arrives.

I was freaking out because the bus driver would not allow her to use the booster seat (she's still only 42 pounds), and when they got to the school another, older (and much bigger) child was practically sitting on top of her--actually she was standing, and Stella did not even seem to have her seatbelt on! Well, one thing at a time.