There's something amusing about the English language when it gets mixed with the languages of various cultures. When I lived in Japan, so called "Janglish" was famous for its misspellings and faux pas like: "dauble suspension" on a motorcycle, the "Cocking" cooking school," or the barber shop, "Men's Heir" to name a few.

It is not amusing when English grammar is ignored by professionals and administrators who should know English and are responsible for teaching the language. When these administrators can't be bothered to correct misspelled English in prominently placed signs at the entrance to an elementary school, then it is shameful and problematic of what is a "school of excellence."

Case in point, Maude Price Elementary School, on Suva St. and Tweedy Lane, has been misspelling "busing" and confusing children with this sign, "BUSSES AND SPECIAL NEEDS ONLY." For over three years I have been walking around this school counting steps on my Fitbit. I first noticed two signs on Suva Street that misspelled the word "busing," the one noted and "NO PARKING BUSSES EXEMPT" on the back fence.

I thought it was a joke, as how could an elementary school that teaches plural noun spelling in first grade let the word "busing" be misspelled as "bussing?"

"Someone will point this out and get it corrected quickly," the credentialed high school teacher in me thought. Two years later, the signs are still up and yesterday I noticed two new "bussing" signs.

Making English nouns plural is taught in 1st grade! The first rule is to add the letter "s" to regular nouns. So Cat becomes cats and table becomes tables. The second rule is

If the singular noun ends in ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add ‑es to the end to make it plural.

truss – trusses

bus – buses

marsh – marshes

lunch – lunches

tax – taxes

blitz – blitzes

And so on for other irregular nouns.

Now there are the wiki-pedantics who may insist that busses is spelled correctly according to the dictionary that they checked online. They have a very small point. According to most dictionaries "busses" is archaic. It has not been used much in the past 100 years. Google lays it out best in their linguistic nGram.

https://tinyurl.com/y42w3cjh

The Merriam Webster dictionary adds,

"The plural of bus is buses. A variant plural, busses, is also given in the dictionary, but has become so rare that it seems like an error to many people."

The Merriam Webster continues with this choice insight, "Confusing the issue is the word buss, a synonym of kiss which could make for some funny interpretations of parking signs for buses."

Elementary school is about teaching language rules and usage so students can learn to read and write without being ridiculed. The problem is when the schools themselves don't follow the rules and usage which is obviously occurring at my Alma Mater, Maude Price Elementary School. Sadly, if Maude Price is posting this sign outside for years, I wonder what learning may be occurring inside the school? Or at other schools? It seems that no one in authority cares about the example that "bussing" is setting for our children and residents.

How much could it possibly cost to reprint and laminate an already poorly printed block letter sign? Surely, Downey can afford to replace the signs? They just added two new misspelled "bussing" signs to the same entrance. I visited the Downey School District Administrative Offices in fall 2018 and spoke to the Assistant Superintendent. She assured me that the "bussing signs" would be corrected and replaced.

The signs are still up and the new "bussing" signs added for the new school year. Children will likely misspell plural nouns and adults will continue being confused by the "bussing" signs authoritatively placed in front of the Special Needs entrance to the Downey elementary school.

Perhaps our school district has special needs and could benefit from a remedial first grade lesson in plural nouns, usage, and block letter printing?

Mary-Ellen Quintana is a Downey resident and credentialed high school teacher.

Memo to Downey Unified: It's 'buses,' not 'busses'