WashPost Flame-Bait on Loudoun County Tardy Policy

[Anonymous]

You are definitely a teacher I wouldn't want to have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are definitely a teacher I wouldn't want to have.

Just being realistic.

Have you actually sat in a classroom all day with your child? Give it a try someday.

There is an incredible inefficiency in public school education; in any group education, even in the very best of schools.

[Anonymous]

School buses arrive later to school on a regular basis. Ask your child's school how often a bus arrives late, thus "impeding instruction".

At one school I worked at, a particular bus arrived late easily 3 days a week -- some days 10 minutes late! Many of those kids needed to then go and get their breakfast, which they brought to the classroom.

10 minutes late on a regular basis did impede instruction. This was in Fairfax County by the way. And yes, we did complain, but transportation said that there was nothing that they could do about it.

Maybe the parents should have sued the school district for failure to get their kids to school on time? If the state of VA decides to make a law specifying exactly how many tardies a child can have before the parents are fined or imprisoned for failing to get their kids to school on time, I suppose that could be used to force school districts to make sure the buses run on time.

[Anonymous]

My kids are sometimes late for school - although only my 4 year old twins not my 2nd grader. All go to DCPS school. 2nd grader walks with our neighbors. But getting the twins to school on time us a huge priority. I keep track of the tardies we have, they will sometimes eat breakfast in the car. I tell them how important it is to be there on time. Other kids saunter in 10 minutes late, leisurely picking up a
Cafeteria breakfast on the way to class. It really surprises me.

[Anonymous]

"School buses arrive later to school on a regular basis. Ask your child's school how often a bus arrives late, thus "impeding instruction". "

Yes, they do and it does. But if the school bus is late, the parents are not held responsible. The bus company can (and has) fire the bus driver if it's because the driver doesn't get to the bus depot on time in order to pick up their assigned bus.

Bus contracts can be lost. Prior to losing a contract, it's far more likely that a bus driver will get fired.

[Anonymous]

The schools are just having a pissing contest with the parents to prove whose the boss. I get that.

You sound like you're related to the Deiners - another piece of work.

[Anonymous]

"Mark Denicore pointed out each of the children was counted tardy at least three times for arriving at school at 7:50 a.m.—the same time the school day begins.

“That means they were signing in at that time at the front desk, but they hadn’t made it to class yet,” Melcher responded. "

So, they get signed in and then they have to be escorted to class, right? Or are they issued a hall pass and then amble in at their own pace?

[Anonymous]

They sign in and walk down the hall with all the other kids who arrived at 7:49 am and are still in the hallways. And with the kids who arrived at 7:52 on the bus that arrived late that day.

[Anonymous]

The kids who were on the bus have an excused tardy as it's the bus driver's responsibility to get them to school prior to the bell. That's the trade-off for the kids getting up a little earlier in order to get on the bus.

The children who were delivered by their parents or walked to school and came in after the bell rang are unexcused.

[Anonymous]

Do tell what specific bus has been late 30+ times this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do tell what specific bus has been late 30+ times this year.

As if that bus driver wouldn't have been fired long ago!

[Anonymous]

If just ONE bus is late ONE time each week, and the children on that bus are going into 15 different classrooms 2 minutes late, then the education of kids in 15 different classrooms is being impacted, severely according to some on this thread, every single week.

It is not at all unusual to have one bus a week late by 2 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Really? I don't know who/where your busing is happening but we have been in multiple districts (IL, CO and VA) where the buses were rarely late. Maybe with a snow storm but definitely no late buses on a weekly basis.

If that is the case with your buses you really should get on then about fixing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people just can't get their act together in the morning. One of them lives in my house. I've tried to explain to him for 4 years that it's unacceptable that the kids are late to school regularly because he can't be bothered getting the evening and morning routines coordinated (because he puts the kids to bed too late, they can't get up, he won't get up, and then everyone is late). And yes, I will put the kids to bed, but there are 2 evenings a week that I am not here to do it. He'll do better for a little while, then revert back to his old, lazy ways. I'm glad that next year, it looks like I'll be taking one kid to school, and even though the start time is nearly an hour earlier, I bet we'll only be late when there are traffic or weather issues that cause major delays.

I do think it's rude and disrespectful to be chronically late. It's like saying that your time is more important than other peoples' time.

I could have written this one, word for word. DH is chronically late. and it frosts my cookies that he ALWAYS makes the whole family late. He took DD to school sometimes once every two weeks. Every tardy she ever received was on these days. I am the only one who takes her to school this year, and she only received a tardy on Monday last week, but it was excused because she had been to the doctor. I think the schools need to crack down. It is disruptive for a child to walk in to an already working classroom.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, 15:52! Wow! It's not just that these people can't get their kids to school on time, they clearly don't care! I can only imagine what kind of relationship they have with the school. I don't care how much the mother 'volunteers' at school. Their attitudes clearly communicate the poor esteem they hold the school in. Who would want to be around that?