Schools not allowing parents to enter- Covid protocol

[Anonymous]

How are schools allowed to be closed in 2023? Closed meaning only students and staff can enter for the most part via Covid protocol. On special occasions such as Parent teacher conference parents are allowed in. Some schools are closed, others not. How is this allowed?

[Anonymous]

Post the school communication the indicates this is being done.

[Anonymous]

This is totally untrue at all three of our local DCPS schools. Must be a charter.

[Anonymous]

Not true at our DCPS! I feel like I've been inside dozens of times this year.

[Anonymous]

We're at a Title 1 DCPS and have the same policy, OP. Though they no longer refer to it as "Covid protocol." They just don't want parents in the building.

We are allowed in for special events but, for instance, if my kid has a doctor's appointment, I have to tell the security guard at the front door that I'm there to pick her up, and then she is retrieved and brought to the front door to me. And when I drop her back off, I can't walk her to her classroom or even enter the building -- I drop her with the security guard and she walks to her classroom alone. She's in kindergarten.

I hate it. I get limiting how much time parents spend in the building because you can get overzealous parents who are around all the time and disrupting classes or just clogging up hallways. And I understand having security protocols in place and making sure any adult entering the building is actually a parent and has a reason to be there.

We started school during Covid so I have no idea if it was like this before.

[Anonymous]

Each school is different and principals decide. It hurts to see the barriers in place. Parents need to know and see what’s going on. Walking a child to class is happening at some schools and not others. Look at the principal, question them. It’s all about control. Threat of a Lawsuits, Washington post article,
Push back from PTA/PTO etc need to happen.

I’m speaking of DCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Is it just DCPS title 1 who can do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Title 1 DCPS and have the same policy, OP. Though they no longer refer to it as "Covid protocol." They just don't want parents in the building.

We are allowed in for special events but, for instance, if my kid has a doctor's appointment, I have to tell the security guard at the front door that I'm there to pick her up, and then she is retrieved and brought to the front door to me. And when I drop her back off, I can't walk her to her classroom or even enter the building -- I drop her with the security guard and she walks to her classroom alone. She's in kindergarten.

I hate it. I get limiting how much time parents spend in the building because you can get overzealous parents who are around all the time and disrupting classes or just clogging up hallways. And I understand having security protocols in place and making sure any adult entering the building is actually a parent and has a reason to be there.

We started school during Covid so I have no idea if it was like this before.

There is literally no reason why you should be able to pick your daughter up from class or walk her back to class after a doctors appointment. What you described is exactly how a school should work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Title 1 DCPS and have the same policy, OP. Though they no longer refer to it as "Covid protocol." They just don't want parents in the building.

We are allowed in for special events but, for instance, if my kid has a doctor's appointment, I have to tell the security guard at the front door that I'm there to pick her up, and then she is retrieved and brought to the front door to me. And when I drop her back off, I can't walk her to her classroom or even enter the building -- I drop her with the security guard and she walks to her classroom alone. She's in kindergarten.

I hate it. I get limiting how much time parents spend in the building because you can get overzealous parents who are around all the time and disrupting classes or just clogging up hallways. And I understand having security protocols in place and making sure any adult entering the building is actually a parent and has a reason to be there.

We started school during Covid so I have no idea if it was like this before.

There is literally no reason why you should be able to pick your daughter up from class or walk her back to class after a doctors appointment. What you described is exactly how a school should work.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it just DCPS title 1 who can do this?

No, this is also the case at our non-Title 1 DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Why do you need to go into the school except if there is something specific for parents? In fact, I think it’s something that should have happened a long time ago for safety of all kids and staff. People just can’t walk into my place of work without going through security and being escorted. And we don’t have children at our workplace. I’m 💯 supportive of these policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Title 1 DCPS and have the same policy, OP. Though they no longer refer to it as "Covid protocol." They just don't want parents in the building.

We are allowed in for special events but, for instance, if my kid has a doctor's appointment, I have to tell the security guard at the front door that I'm there to pick her up, and then she is retrieved and brought to the front door to me. And when I drop her back off, I can't walk her to her classroom or even enter the building -- I drop her with the security guard and she walks to her classroom alone. She's in kindergarten.

I hate it. I get limiting how much time parents spend in the building because you can get overzealous parents who are around all the time and disrupting classes or just clogging up hallways. And I understand having security protocols in place and making sure any adult entering the building is actually a parent and has a reason to be there.

We started school during Covid so I have no idea if it was like this before.

There is literally no reason why you should be able to pick your daughter up from class or walk her back to class after a doctors appointment. What you described is exactly how a school should work.

I think it's weird that a parent can't even enter the building. I would be find with a policy where you walk your kid into the front office and then they either walk to their class alone or get escorted, once the admin has confirmed that the class is in the classroom (they could be at a special or at recess).

I also think that on a case-by-case basis, a parent might walk a young kid to the classroom, say if there is something they need to inform the teacher of regarding the child's absence (like if my kid just got a flu vaccine I might want to tell their teacher so they understand if he seems low energy). Yes, I can text the teacher or send a note with my kid, but I could see in certain situations where it would be useful of the parent to just drop the child off directly.

There are ways to limit parents in schools without having a policy that requires them to hand their children off to a security guard at the door. It's a very cold and impersonal way of interact with families, IMO.

[Anonymous]

What are you speaking of ? There are security protocols in place whether the school is closed or open. Sign in at the security desk, check in at the office etc. parents are allowed to walk their children to class. Parents are not the enemy who will harm the school environment if they enter… wth

Some schools don’t even allowed parents to go into the office. Like the parents can’t walk through the front doors. Parents have to speak with an intercom at the door.

It’s ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you need to go into the school except if there is something specific for parents? In fact, I think it’s something that should have happened a long time ago for safety of all kids and staff. People just can’t walk into my place of work without going through security and being escorted. And we don’t have children at our workplace. I’m 💯 supportive of these policies.

Random people don't walk into my workplace, but it would actually be normal for someone's family member to come in with them on occasion. Not all the time, but it's happened many times, and it's a more human way to interact with people.

I think if you aren't going to allow parents in the building at all during normal school hours, you should be making sure you have plenty of events and things that give families a chance to be in the building and get to know staff, see classrooms, etc.

Consistently, one of the best predictors of academic success is parent involvement. Having a very unwelcoming environment for parents can be disruptive of parent involvement. It's good to have boundaries (no unannounced visits, parents must sign in and. have a reason to be there, parents may not be unaccompanied in hallways, parents may come into the lobby but are not allowed in hallways with classrooms) but having a hardline of no parents in the building *at all* sends a weird message to families about their role in their child's education.

[Anonymous]

To see preschoolers screaming and crying at hand off is so sad. Parents should be able to walk them in and warm them up. The teacher can handle telling the parent when it’s time to go, etc.