Lawton P. Bourn

To the editor,

For four months now First Student, Inc. has been conditioning Lakes Region families, youngsters and adults, students and non-students alike, by arriving at scheduled bus stops with considerable consistency and reliability. Despite the infrequent vehicle problems, the unexpected weather dilemmas and the expected-but-occasional sick employees, First Student has been the morning entity by which we can set our clocks and, more important, plan and practice our morning toilet (grooming and dressing) routines. This week, however, has been among the most upsetting and inconsistent displays of transportation reliability ever practiced by the firm. To wit:

First, due to the icy road conditions in Laconia earlier this week, particularly in the Weirs area, and coupled with poor judgment and resultant bad decisions from the School Superintendent's Office regarding delaying the opening of local schools, many students at all grade levels were picked up and delivered to their respective schools at an extremely late hour, in some cases their lateness equal to the same amount of time as that of a conventional two-hour delayed opening. In addition to the obvious lateness of arrival, personal thoughts such as "... what if students slip and slide under the bus wheels?" or"... what if the bus can't stop in time.. .?" or ". .. what if the bus goes off the road?" were among the few concerns I can recite in a family newspaper.

However, being out on the routes and finding the need for sand, or having to wait for a sanding truck, before trying to overcome normally insignificant hills on those routes was certainly not the fault of First Student or its drivers. What happened yesterday, January 5, certainly was First Student's fault and is the raison d'etre for this letter.

Following a day of excessive weather and waiting for the bus, families and students on Ashley Drive next found themselves in turmoil over the presence of their bus nearly four minutes before the accustomed time of arrival, a situation that produced much angst in several households on my street and probably elsewhere on the same bus route. We are not accustomed to having a school bus arrive early, especially in view of the expected precision and reliability I referred to in the first paragraph. In a phrase, most students simply were not ready to be picked up and your driver was present too early and my children almost missed the bus because they were not quite ready.

I am well aware that perhaps they should arise earlier and be ready a few minutes before the bus usually arrives but, frankly, I am happy when they just get up and prepare for the normal bus arrival time. Even if it were The Polar Express outside on my street, regardless of the time, I do believe that the youngsters in my neighborhood would have still been in various states of undress and certainly without teeth brushed or hair combed or brushed.

I don't know why the bus on our route was so early and I really don't care, as long as we don't experience a seesaw effect during the remaining months of this school year. We expect, need and relish the consistency First Student has exhibited over the school year to date and I know from experience that teachers do not want students arriving at school too early or in various states of dishevelment.

Being on time, completely dressed and properly groomed are traits teachers and schools try to impart to their students and I believe such behaviors are also prerequisites for driving a bus, are they not? Please don't change the rules in the middle of the game, First Student: it is hard enough to play the game properly in the first place.

Lawton P. Bourn

Laconia