Elementary school starts at 9:15?!?! Rant

[Anonymous]

So apparently every public elementary school in my vicinity begins at 09:15.. I'm actually shocked that this is even allowed considering that 99% of normal jobs begin no later than 9:00. I mean my job is flexible but come one... Its like a scam to get EVERYONE to pay before care. Has anyone made a fuss about this?

[Anonymous]

Are you serious? Many elementary schools have started around this time for years. It isn't something new to make your life difficult? FYI- Schools are not free childcare. If you didn't want to be inconvenienced, you shouldn't have had kids.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you're right. It's a scam. Large public school systems have nothing better to do but dream up back room deals that line the pockets of sitters who will get another hour of minimum wage pay to watch kids from schools starting at 9:15am.

Next you're going to tell us that they end the school day before you hours at work end. The nerve of them!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So apparently every public elementary school in my vicinity begins at 09:15.. I'm actually shocked that this is even allowed considering that 99% of normal jobs begin no later than 9:00. I mean my job is flexible but come one... Its like a scam to get EVERYONE to pay before care. Has anyone made a fuss about this?

I don't see the problem here. Just take your kids to school and DVR the shows you eat bon bons in front of.

[Anonymous]

If you are far enough away from school that you get bus service, the bus picks the kids up early enough that you can make it to work by 9. Otherwise, yes, you're stuck with before care. Before care + school + after care 5 days a week can get old for these little ones. To PP: being employed isn't usually a choice, so no need to go off about it. Once they get to middle school, they have to be at the bus stop at the butt crack of dawn, so get ready for the opposite extreme.

[Anonymous]

OP here-

The fact that this has been going on for years is besides the point when A) I'm not from the area and B) This is my first child and C) I know of other school in the county that do not start this late.

Saying its a scam was part of the whole rant but don't take that seriously but it seems to me that it would be easier if the younger kids went earlier since they need supervision and the older kids went later since they don't. Having a five year old got at 915 forces almost every parent to do before and after care whereas a start an hour earlier would not.

Bonbons... I'm the father not at all a housewife. But the whole point of the thread is that if you don't work you can take your kids at anytime. If both parents do you are screwed.

Both myself and my wife work far and start work around 7AM. Either of us could adjust to later hours but not after 0915! School is only 5 minutes away so bus will not help.

[Anonymous]

Double check the bus pick up time. Our bus pick up time is around 8:25 even though we're the last stop before school and the bell doesn't ring until after 9 (and we are only five mins away). The bus gets there early and the kids hang out in the cafegymatorium

[Anonymous]

This schedule exists because buses are shared between the levels of school. The same bus takes kids to middle and high school first. It would make so much more sense to send the little kids to school first, then the high schoolers later, but that is too much upheaval for the schools to implement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are far enough away from school that you get bus service, the bus picks the kids up early enough that you can make it to work by 9. Otherwise, yes, you're stuck with before care. Before care + school + after care 5 days a week can get old for these little ones. To PP: being employed isn't usually a choice, so no need to go off about it. Once they get to middle school, they have to be at the bus stop at the butt crack of dawn, so get ready for the opposite extreme.

If you're away from them for 9 hours (say 8 to 4) it's going to be equally long if it's before/school/aftercare or just before/school or school/aftercare.

While before care was an annoying expense, I'd rather have the little kids who have the option of before care start late, rather than having to leave my middle schooler home alone and worry about whether or not he made it to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This schedule exists because buses are shared between the levels of school. The same bus takes kids to middle and high school first. It would make so much more sense to send the little kids to school first, then the high schoolers later, but that is too much upheaval for the schools to implement.

I've never seen a convincing argument of why this makes sense that didn't amount to "my kid is too spoiled to get up that early".

Getting out early allows high schoolers to have jobs, play sports, and do other productive things, and still eat dinner with their families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This schedule exists because buses are shared between the levels of school. The same bus takes kids to middle and high school first. It would make so much more sense to send the little kids to school first, then the high schoolers later, but that is too much upheaval for the schools to implement.

For a significant portion of the school year, some kids will be walking to and waiting for the bus before it is light out. Should those kids be teenagers or 6 year olds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-

The fact that this has been going on for years is besides the point when A) I'm not from the area and B) This is my first child and C) I know of other school in the county that do not start this late.

Saying its a scam was part of the whole rant but don't take that seriously but it seems to me that it would be easier if the younger kids went earlier since they need supervision and the older kids went later since they don't. Having a five year old got at 915 forces almost every parent to do before and after care whereas a start an hour earlier would not.

Bonbons... I'm the father not at all a housewife. But the whole point of the thread is that if you don't work you can take your kids at anytime. If both parents do you are screwed.

Both myself and my wife work far and start work around 7AM. Either of us could adjust to later hours but not after 0915! School is only 5 minutes away so bus will not help.

That is a choice you make, to both work.

As others have noted, if you're just encountering the schools for the first time, you're going to be in for a shock at just how much they expect from parents during the school day. The schools rightly expect that one parents is home during the day, because that is common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This schedule exists because buses are shared between the levels of school. The same bus takes kids to middle and high school first. It would make so much more sense to send the little kids to school first, then the high schoolers later, but that is too much upheaval for the schools to implement.

That doesn't make a lick of sense. Pray tell, explain your reasoning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This schedule exists because buses are shared between the levels of school. The same bus takes kids to middle and high school first. It would make so much more sense to send the little kids to school first, then the high schoolers later, but that is too much upheaval for the schools to implement.

FWIW, I now have teens and WISH their schools started later. Getting teenagers up and out the door at 7am is just about impossible, as the adolescent organism is programmed to be nocturnal (lol).

I've always wished they could reverse it -- have the little kids go to school early and let the high schoolers have a later start more in line with their biorhythms. But this will never happen because of after school jobs, activities and sports.

Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

We moved out of DC area last year and elementary school begins at 7:50 and it's great. I thought it would be a pain to get everyone up and out of the house by then but I now love it.