Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Whittier School District Negligence

I completely sympathize with your situation--I also have a 5-year-old--and I have had a similar situation--my 12-year-old son got on the wrong bus one day and ended up 50 miles in the wrong direction, where he was dropped off on a city street, given a quarter, and told to call home. There was no place for him to wait except a bar, gas station, and cigar store. He was scared and crying, but managed to tell me the name of the cigar store. I was able to call the owner, explain the situation, and he kindly let my son stay with him until I could get there. Then, a month or so later, my still 12-year-old son was expelled from school. He was very upset, but the school put him on a school bus to go home, dropped him off unsupervised, and he ran away because he was afraid to face us. The police found him in a river at 11:00 pm 6 hours later. It is very traumatic. However, I do not believe that "legal action" is what you need. It takes too much time and too much money. Action is what you need--action that demands accountability from the bus company & the school DISTRICT. It is hard, but stick to it--positively. In my son's case, I went to the school principal, and we together developed a system that would prevent the same thing from happening in the future. This was a much more productive--and for me satisfying--use of my time. In the public schools, you can go to the school board, you can go to the media, you can demand to be heard--be a squeaky wheel--BUT your results will be better and your efforts more fruitful if you let go of what "might" have been. Money for negligence will not be nearly as satisfying as creating a system of protection for all kids.