Those big vans are no longer allowed for field trips at Wooster. We use seven passenger vans and cars — and you know that by “seven” they really mean “six”. We have two busses now, but they are always booked for the athletic teams on weekends. A bus would be hard to park on some of those roadsides anyway. So we end up with a caravan.

Needless to say — a charter bus limits the places one might take a group of students. I was scouting out a new field trip this afternoon with my own kids and ran into a sign that said “rough road”. I was willing to take it in my own vehicle, but it would depend on the bus driver whether s/he was also willing.