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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.[/quote]

Common in 1955, perhaps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Troll.

I'm not trolling. Most families have a parent home. This is the normal order of things.

You're not even a good troll.

[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?

So after five years you just now realize that school starts at 9:15? You don't sound that bright.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe the flack the OP is getting. OP is right. I am in a house with two working parents who can afford care and have reasonably flexible jobs. Even we struggle with this. We also walk to school, so we don't get the 8:30 bus to help us. Just imagine how hard it is for a single parent household.

Judging by the rush hour traffic I fight each day, I would say most jobs are of the 9-5 variety. In reality, a good subset of those jobs are looking for 8-6 work. i don't know any desk job where it is ok to waltz in around 10am after dropping your kid off at 9:15. If so, they want you working until 7pm.

What's notable is that HS kids need their sleep. They should be going to school at 9:15am. They also are mature enough to stay at home by themselves in the morning while the parents go to work. The school system does working elementary school parents no favors, nor do they help out the HS kids. The system really hurts single working parents the most, but that is likely not a problem here on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

9:15 can be hard depending on how flexible jobs are. Sometimes the decision to work is not much of a choice. Me and my husband contribute equally so if one of stays home, our income is cut in half. We could probably work it out but it would be hard when we have to pay for out of the ordinary expenses, like a new roof or furnace, and saving for college. The other alternative would be for one of us to get a much more high paying job but my husband is extremely involved with the kids so neither of us want to be the working parent where long hours replace family time. So we stagger schedules and compromise so we each have time with the kids.

However, we are lucky to have jobs that are flexible enough to have one of us go in late and the other work an early shift to get the kids after school. When I wanted to change jobs and I needed to be downtown by 9:30 and not 9:45 at my new job, the late start time really caused concern. We don't bus so the bus time cushion is no help.

For a 9:15 start, you can drop off as early as 8:45. Luckily, we have Kids After Hours at our school and because we were already signed up for one day of aftercare per week (it can be a floating day in case we need to pick up late on any given day), it was a nominal increase to drop off early. So, while it irks us to pay for 15 minutes of care, we see it as a temporary fee until the schedules shift for middle school. Check to see what kind of programs you have at your school and if one of you can go in late a couple of days a week, you can sign up for only a few days/week.

[Anonymous]

Its cool for those that can afford before and after care, have a nanny, shift hours around, even leave a parent at home.

But realize, there are at least half of the parents out there perhaps not posting on this board who... live paycheck to paycheck, have no wiggle room in their schedule at all, have to work overtime on call, cannot afford any additional care and one parent not working is a funny joke.

While you may not be in that situation, I find it hard to believe no sympathy at all are felt for that large portion of the population.

[Anonymous]

9:15 is a little late. Our elementary school in MD starts at 8:50 am and you can drop off as early as 8:30 (there has to be some time to accounts for buses getting there and unloading).

This may not help you if your job is far away but hopefully this means that school gets out a little later and if there is an enrichment activity after school it would end closer to 5pm rather than 4:30 pm. For us, giving our kids a chance to have those extra enrichment activities has been the challenge, especially because aftercare is not offered at the school. Both our kids wanted to do Mad Science, but we just couldn't commit to another day of a 4:30pm pickup ...we could only swing one of those early pickups a week. This year the girls will have a math enrichment and the oldest will do Girls on the Run and I'm thankful we have jobs flexible enough to allow us to do this.

I know for me it was difficult to ever participate in after school activities growing up because both my parents worked full-time and had far commutes/not flexible hours. Unless there was a late bus at school that could take me home after the activity, I couldn't do it. I remember being in middle school and not being able to play in games because it would get me back too late for the bus and too early for my parents to pick me up. My parents would not allow me to catch rides all the time if they were not in a position to reciprocate and my mom would not allow me to take public transportation by myself. High school in the upper grades was a little better because we started driving.

So anyway, I guess my point is that the bigger picture for me is being in a position that allows my kids to have fond memories of having fun with girl scouts, science projects, and running (building the independence, leadership, self-esteem, etc and helping with the skills/experiences that may not traditionally be found in school) and still having that downtime on the weekends to hang out with the neighborhood kids. In my mind, finding a way for other people to also participate, be it by contributing to a scholarship fund, volunteering my time, helping with transportation etc, helps other parents also trying to juggle daily life be a part of these great programs too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The PP mentioned nothing about being spoiled. Where did THAT come from?

Little kids are up early. And there have been tons of articles discussing the benefits of starting high school earlier - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704535004575349182901006438.html

But b/c of this need to squeeze in sports (b/c all high school kids will earn sports scholarships to college or they'll end up at the Olympics ) and work, the start time is 7:25 am for most high schools - at least in Mo Co.

It's ridiculous.

[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?

We're a two working-parents family with elementary-aged kids who are walkers with a 9:15 start time. Luckily, there's before (and after care) at our school. My husband drops off two days at before care/I pick-up on those days at dismissal; then we reverse it for the two days I drop off and he goes into work (very) early so that he can pick-up the kids at their 3:30 dismissal. One of us is either working from home or off every other Friday -- so we're covered on the 5th day. On the bright side, because the kids are in before-care on the 4 days we always work, we're covered when there's a delayed opening (with school not starting until 11:15!) and on the many "non-holidays" when schools are closed. Yes, people have made a fuss about this and probably will continue to do so. But that's all it is: vent, come back to reality, and find a solution that works best for your family. OP, it looks to me that you're in phase 1, so: I feel your pain; amen; you're preaching to the choir.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you just need to suck it up and do before care for gods sake. Your rant is obnoxious. It's public school. It has started around 9ish for the past 40 some odd years (and even longer I'm sure). You just deal with it. Move it you do not like it. Try private and pay through the nose. And, no I'm not a stay at home mom. My kids are in aftercare bc my schedule is to work later. So I do end up paying for the care b/c I have to. If I didn't work we could not live here, so I work. You really need to figure out how to do this now b/c it's for the next 13 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you just need to suck it up and do before care for gods sake. Your rant is obnoxious. It's public school. It has started around 9ish for the past 40 some odd years (and even longer I'm sure). You just deal with it. Move it you do not like it. Try private and pay through the nose. And, no I'm not a stay at home mom. My kids are in aftercare bc my schedule is to work later. So I do end up paying for the care b/c I have to. If I didn't work we could not live here, so I work. You really need to figure out how to do this now b/c it's for the next 13 years.

Your obnoxious too but thanks for the input

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its cool for those that can afford before and after care, have a nanny, shift hours around, even leave a parent at home.

But realize, there are at least half of the parents out there perhaps not posting on this board who... live paycheck to paycheck, have no wiggle room in their schedule at all, have to work overtime on call, cannot afford any additional care and one parent not working is a funny joke.

While you may not be in that situation, I find it hard to believe no sympathy at all are felt for that large portion of the population.

I am a single parent who falls into the paycheck to paycheck category and I'm not even complaining about this issue. It is what it is. My son's school starts at 9:15 b/c of the bus schedule. I take him to the before school program at 7:45am and pick him up between 5:30-6:00pm from the after school program. School isn't free daycare. I don't expect the school system to cater to the needs of working parents. Is it costly? Yes. Some months I have to charge the before/aftercare on my credit card. It is still more affordable than other options- babysitter, au pair, etc. It works out to approximately $7.50/hr. The problem comes in when certain schools have no space in their before/aftercare programs. It is those parents I feel sorry for. But the school always has info about other options for before/aftercare like in-home daycares in the neighborhood, karate places, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Troll.

I'm not trolling. Most families have a parent home. This is the normal order of things.

Presuming of course that there are two parents in the household - which is not always the case. You know - single parenting, divorce? Besides in this area many households have two working parents. How else could you afford to live here? I don't think one parent at home is the "normal order of things". In fact I know only ONE stay at home parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its cool for those that can afford before and after care, have a nanny, shift hours around, even leave a parent at home.

But realize, there are at least half of the parents out there perhaps not posting on this board who... live paycheck to paycheck, have no wiggle room in their schedule at all, have to work overtime on call, cannot afford any additional care and one parent not working is a funny joke.

While you may not be in that situation, I find it hard to believe no sympathy at all are felt for that large portion of the population.

I am a single parent who falls into the paycheck to paycheck category and I'm not even complaining about this issue. It is what it is. My son's school starts at 9:15 b/c of the bus schedule. I take him to the before school program at 7:45am and pick him up between 5:30-6:00pm from the after school program. School isn't free daycare. I don't expect the school system to cater to the needs of working parents. Is it costly? Yes. Some months I have to charge the before/aftercare on my credit card. It is still more affordable than other options- babysitter, au pair, etc. It works out to approximately $7.50/hr. The problem comes in when certain schools have no space in their before/aftercare programs. It is those parents I feel sorry for. But the school always has info about other options for before/aftercare like in-home daycares in the neighborhood, karate places, etc.

Who said school is free day care? School not being daycare is precisely why I wouldn't want my child stuck in before/after care all day long. I unlike you think that school should "cater" to the parents whose taxes are paying for it. Not that they MUST get their way but there has to be some consideration.

I think you are correct in that the schools before/aftercare is more reasonable than other options but thats besides the point. Preferably I don't want them in "in-school care" at all. The current hours forces the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its cool for those that can afford before and after care, have a nanny, shift hours around, even leave a parent at home.

But realize, there are at least half of the parents out there perhaps not posting on this board who... live paycheck to paycheck, have no wiggle room in their schedule at all, have to work overtime on call, cannot afford any additional care and one parent not working is a funny joke.

While you may not be in that situation, I find it hard to believe no sympathy at all are felt for that large portion of the population.

I'm a single parent, living paycheck to paycheck. I don't understand why people think that 4 hours of childcare -- 2 before and 2 after, would cost significantly more than 4 hours of aftercare. Either way the hours the school is open don't cover my need.