Late Pick-Ups from Elementary School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be that parent. Pay for afterschool care.

I'd love to, but they won't take all kids.

DP, then you need to find another solution. School is not child care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first time a parent is more than 15 minutes late we chalk it up to a one time incident that you can't always prevent from happening. However, when it starts becoming a pattern you 100% will be judged.
I once had to stay at my elementary school with a third grader until 5:15pm which was almost two hours after dismissal. Nobody on the emergency contacts would answer their phones. I was very close to calling the police when the mom finally arrived. Unlike private schools, we can't charge guardians for being late in picking up their children.

I wish my ES had that policy when I was young. We didn’t have buses, lived at the edge of town, and my sister and I would routinely wait by ourselves long after everyone else was long gone. OP don’t be that parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be that parent. Pay for afterschool care.

I'd love to, but they won't take all kids.

I could think of several reasons for this (complex medical needs that can't be safely met, for example), but one is age: just because a school has PK doesn't mean that the external aftercare contractor can/will take PK students.

Probably best to call the school office and ask about the procedures for emergency/one-off delays, including whether or not a child can be sent to aftercare based on a parent phone call alone (they often have to be pre-registered and "members" of the aftercare program, even if they only use it once per year). But if this is a chronic conflict between (for example) parent getting out of work and being able to drive over to the school, and you have to get lucky with the traffic in order to pull into the parking lot 10 minutes after dismissal, then this just doesn't work, and it will not get any easier without a change of plans.

This is when you activate your personal village: talk with other parents/guardians, see if a little friend's mom can take your two kids over to the playground for that missing 10 minutes on those three days per week you're going to run late, be able to text a neighbor to rush up to the school or more than one friend to stop your kid on their way out the door and wait with them. You can't get the school to do this for you: that extra 10 minutes is a favor that almost everyone could use, which is why it can't be available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be that parent. Pay for afterschool care.

I'd love to, but they won't take all kids.

I could think of several reasons for this (complex medical needs that can't be safely met, for example), but one is age: just because a school has PK doesn't mean that the external aftercare contractor can/will take PK students.

Probably best to call the school office and ask about the procedures for emergency/one-off delays, including whether or not a child can be sent to aftercare based on a parent phone call alone (they often have to be pre-registered and "members" of the aftercare program, even if they only use it once per year). But if this is a chronic conflict between (for example) parent getting out of work and being able to drive over to the school, and you have to get lucky with the traffic in order to pull into the parking lot 10 minutes after dismissal, then this just doesn't work, and it will not get any easier without a change of plans.

This is when you activate your personal village: talk with other parents/guardians, see if a little friend's mom can take your two kids over to the playground for that missing 10 minutes on those three days per week you're going to run late, be able to text a neighbor to rush up to the school or more than one friend to stop your kid on their way out the door and wait with them. You can't get the school to do this for you: that extra 10 minutes is a favor that almost everyone could use, which is why it can't be available.

What even is 10 minutes late? How long after the final bell?

Not everyone has a personal support network, so sometimes all you can you is rely on whatever you can get from school and CPS.

[Anonymous]

Also, at what age are they allowed to walk home by themselves?

[Anonymous]

You'll have to ask your school. But regardless, you'll have to make plans to get your child on time. If you can't get there, if there's no after school program, if you don't have family around, you'll have to pay and probably pay a premium for a sitter to pick your child up. If you can't work anything else, one parent will have to quit their job. If there's only one parent period, you are in a bad, bad place because the school isn't going to allow repeated late pick ups.

Fwiw, I've seen police called when parents are more than 20 minutes late. That seems to curb the late pick ups.

[Anonymous]

The Rec Department has a very low cost after school program called Club Adventure from 3:30-6:30 on school days for ages 5-11. I think there are buses that take kids to the rec center for the program. You can look it up on Active Montgomery and call the specific rec center for more details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Rec Department has a very low cost after school program called Club Adventure from 3:30-6:30 on school days for ages 5-11. I think there are buses that take kids to the rec center for the program. You can look it up on Active Montgomery and call the specific rec center for more details.

They serve very few schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be that parent. Pay for afterschool care.

I'd love to, but they won't take all kids.

Why will they not take your kid? You have to reserve a spot the first day it opens. Or, you need to find alternative care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The first time a parent is more than 15 minutes late we chalk it up to a one time incident that you can't always prevent from happening. However, when it starts becoming a pattern you 100% will be judged.
I once had to stay at my elementary school with a third grader until 5:15pm which was almost two hours after dismissal. Nobody on the emergency contacts would answer their phones. I was very close to calling the police when the mom finally arrived. Unlike private schools, we can't charge guardians for being late in picking up their children.

I wish my ES had that policy when I was young. We didn’t have buses, lived at the edge of town, and my sister and I would routinely wait by ourselves long after everyone else was long gone. OP don’t be that parent.

What can public schools do if it happens repeatedly other than calling police?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The first time a parent is more than 15 minutes late we chalk it up to a one time incident that you can't always prevent from happening. However, when it starts becoming a pattern you 100% will be judged.
I once had to stay at my elementary school with a third grader until 5:15pm which was almost two hours after dismissal. Nobody on the emergency contacts would answer their phones. I was very close to calling the police when the mom finally arrived. Unlike private schools, we can't charge guardians for being late in picking up their children.

I wish my ES had that policy when I was young. We didn’t have buses, lived at the edge of town, and my sister and I would routinely wait by ourselves long after everyone else was long gone. OP don’t be that parent.

What can public schools do if it happens repeatedly other than calling police?

Your poor kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The first time a parent is more than 15 minutes late we chalk it up to a one time incident that you can't always prevent from happening. However, when it starts becoming a pattern you 100% will be judged.
I once had to stay at my elementary school with a third grader until 5:15pm which was almost two hours after dismissal. Nobody on the emergency contacts would answer their phones. I was very close to calling the police when the mom finally arrived. Unlike private schools, we can't charge guardians for being late in picking up their children.

I wish my ES had that policy when I was young. We didn’t have buses, lived at the edge of town, and my sister and I would routinely wait by ourselves long after everyone else was long gone. OP don’t be that parent.

What can public schools do if it happens repeatedly other than calling police?

Your poor kid

Poor kid, poor teacher, poor school. The PP appears to have no respect for other people's time. The office staff also have personal commitments to attend to.and can't always put your kids above their own. And why should they have to?

The PP's attitude is just one more reason why teachers, principals, etc are leaving the profession in droves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be that parent. Pay for afterschool care.

I'd love to, but they won't take all kids.

I could think of several reasons for this (complex medical needs that can't be safely met, for example), but one is age: just because a school has PK doesn't mean that the external aftercare contractor can/will take PK students.

Probably best to call the school office and ask about the procedures for emergency/one-off delays, including whether or not a child can be sent to aftercare based on a parent phone call alone (they often have to be pre-registered and "members" of the aftercare program, even if they only use it once per year). But if this is a chronic conflict between (for example) parent getting out of work and being able to drive over to the school, and you have to get lucky with the traffic in order to pull into the parking lot 10 minutes after dismissal, then this just doesn't work, and it will not get any easier without a change of plans.

This is when you activate your personal village: talk with other parents/guardians, see if a little friend's mom can take your two kids over to the playground for that missing 10 minutes on those three days per week you're going to run late, be able to text a neighbor to rush up to the school or more than one friend to stop your kid on their way out the door and wait with them. You can't get the school to do this for you: that extra 10 minutes is a favor that almost everyone could use, which is why it can't be available.

What even is 10 minutes late? How long after the final bell?

Not everyone has a personal support network, so sometimes all you can you is rely on whatever you can get from school and CPS.

True, not everyone has an existing personal support network. But every kid has classmates and every kid has a teacher. In my experience, teachers may be willing to post and/or distribute a simple class announcement. This one could be something to the effect of: "Any guardians who would like to form a pickup playgroup for 15 minutes after school dismissal to take turns watching kids on the playground, please email/text XXX." Not an invasion of anyone's privacy or an inconvenience: those not interested can ignore, those interested can respond. Sometimes you have to start making a community if you don't have one already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be that parent. Pay for afterschool care.

I'd love to, but they won't take all kids.

I could think of several reasons for this (complex medical needs that can't be safely met, for example), but one is age: just because a school has PK doesn't mean that the external aftercare contractor can/will take PK students.

Probably best to call the school office and ask about the procedures for emergency/one-off delays, including whether or not a child can be sent to aftercare based on a parent phone call alone (they often have to be pre-registered and "members" of the aftercare program, even if they only use it once per year). But if this is a chronic conflict between (for example) parent getting out of work and being able to drive over to the school, and you have to get lucky with the traffic in order to pull into the parking lot 10 minutes after dismissal, then this just doesn't work, and it will not get any easier without a change of plans.

This is when you activate your personal village: talk with other parents/guardians, see if a little friend's mom can take your two kids over to the playground for that missing 10 minutes on those three days per week you're going to run late, be able to text a neighbor to rush up to the school or more than one friend to stop your kid on their way out the door and wait with them. You can't get the school to do this for you: that extra 10 minutes is a favor that almost everyone could use, which is why it can't be available.

What even is 10 minutes late? How long after the final bell?

Not everyone has a personal support network, so sometimes all you can you is rely on whatever you can get from school and CPS.

True, not everyone has an existing personal support network. But every kid has classmates and every kid has a teacher. In my experience, teachers may be willing to post and/or distribute a simple class announcement. This one could be something to the effect of: "Any guardians who would like to form a pickup playgroup for 15 minutes after school dismissal to take turns watching kids on the playground, please email/text XXX." Not an invasion of anyone's privacy or an inconvenience: those not interested can ignore, those interested can respond. Sometimes you have to start making a community if you don't have one already.

If a child is turned away from aftercare programs, do you really think such an arrangement is going to be practical?

[Anonymous]

After about 5 minutes you kid would be going to the office.