If I threw my child out of my house and made him stand on top of a hill in the middle of a thunderstorm, I would be an irresponsible parent at best.

If that child was subsequently struck by lightning, I'm sure the district attorney would file charges.

All of us are aware of the dangers of thunderstorms and lightning, with the exception of the Fayette County School System Transportation Department.

On Sept. 8, my child and several others were put off the bus, at the top of a hill, in the middle of a thunderstorm, with lightning crackling overhead.

Fortunately, this time, the children only got soaked.

I was furious. I called Mr. John Thompson, the new head of school transportation, to inquire what the policy was on letting children off the bus in the middle of a violent thunderstorm? His answer shocked me, “We have no policy.”

I responded, “Will it take a child getting struck and killed by lightning to get a common sense policy?”

He promised to get back to me. Well, that was two weeks ago. We had more thunderstorms in Fayette County the other day, and, you guessed it, nothing has changed.

For a school system that is supposedly so concerned with our children's safety, there seem to be some rather large gaps between the rhetoric and the reality.

Lynn Bianco
Peachtree City

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