I'm sorry OP! My DD is a rising 3rd grader and she has been talking about being a patrol since K. She would be very sad if she doesn't get to be one.

Anonymous wrote:My rising DC didn’t get picked for safety patrol due to there being too many kids who applied. Is this common? I have not seen this before (he is my 4th) as all my other kids never had this issue.

Does your school offer other jobs within school, ex: helper to a teacher..? Those jobs can sometimes be even more fun tho yes many students want to be a patrol.

I understand your DC's disappointment, OP. My kid was a patrol during the pandemic year, and was disappointed to only do safety presentations to K kids, rather than be a bus patrol.

Are they trying to be a patrol so they can go on a safety patrol picnic at end of school year? With a bunch of authoritative adults? Cringe.

Get a lawyer

It’s never guaranteed. Doesn’t hurt for a child to learn this important lesson about not always getting what you want and being disappointed.

Patrol at our ES requires a parent signature, a teacher recommendation (probably also a signature), and an essay from the student - and that's just for the application. Not everyone gets picked, and that's probably actually a good thing, to help instill the idea that this is a privilege and a real responsibility. If all kids could just sign up for patrol there might be more messing around. What makes it better at our ES is that the patrol coordinator is highly respected by the students generally.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very common at large and overcrowded MCPS ESs

It’s still very disappointing for kids to not get picked for patrols as they have been looking forward to it for a couple of years.

Wait until the get to MS and HS and can't make the soccer team or basketball team. Trust me this only gets worse

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very common at large and overcrowded MCPS ESs

It’s still very disappointing for kids to not get picked for patrols as they have been looking forward to it for a couple of years.

Being on Safety patrol is not guaranteed. If the school decides they only want/need/can handle a certain number and more than that apply, then someone is not going to be picked.

You can speak to your safety patrol coordinator to see if they would be willing to split it up over the year. And they may already be doing that. Like someone said, an overcrowded ES has a lot of kids.

Anonymous wrote:Very common at large and overcrowded MCPS ESs

It’s still very disappointing for kids to not get picked for patrols as they have been looking forward to it for a couple of years.

Very common at large and overcrowded MCPS ESs

At my kids school they made you memorize this long list of safety rules to be a patrol. It was a bit ridiculous and for sure kept the numbers lower.

My rising DC didn’t get picked for safety patrol due to there being too many kids who applied. Is this common? I have not seen this before (he is my 4th) as all my other kids never had this issue.