Anonymous
Post 12/14/2024 10:36     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson


It's not legally enforceable, but they will make your life hard, OP, for the operational reasons explained by PPs, and you will inconvenience the workings of the school.

So try to remember the new policy, except obviously in emergencies.
Anonymous
Post 12/14/2024 10:34     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How can she refuse to release your child to you?

I understand the reason for the policy, but refusing to release your child?

I guess from now on your kid will have to let the teacher know she will miss the entire class, and ask for the work she will miss.


+1. I thought it was illegal for a school to refuse to release a child—at any time, for any reason—to a parent upon request.


It might be, but they can take 20 minutes to do so, leading to the same result.
Anonymous
Post 12/14/2024 10:33     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FCPS elementary school a 30 minute policy, mostly because of bus traffic. I dont think its unreasonable.


Not enforceable. The office will scold you and then give you your child.


And Talk about what a jerk you are behind your back.
Anonymous
Post 12/14/2024 10:28     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

Anonymous wrote:FCPS elementary school a 30 minute policy, mostly because of bus traffic. I dont think its unreasonable.


Not enforceable. The office will scold you and then give you your child.
Anonymous
Post 12/12/2024 16:14     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

FCPS elementary school a 30 minute policy, mostly because of bus traffic. I dont think its unreasonable.
Anonymous
Post 12/01/2024 20:43     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How can she refuse to release your child to you?

I understand the reason for the policy, but refusing to release your child?

I guess from now on your kid will have to let the teacher know she will miss the entire class, and ask for the work she will miss.


+1. I thought it was illegal for a school to refuse to release a child—at any time, for any reason—to a parent upon request.


I don’t actually think they can. We aren’t in ACPS but our HS sends these scolding emails saying that on AP test days we are not “allowed” to sign our kids out after their morning AP test is done. It annoyed me so much I did it just to make a point. They didn’t say a word.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2024 13:13     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

Anonymous wrote:How can she refuse to release your child to you?

I understand the reason for the policy, but refusing to release your child?

I guess from now on your kid will have to let the teacher know she will miss the entire class, and ask for the work she will miss.


+1. I thought it was illegal for a school to refuse to release a child—at any time, for any reason—to a parent upon request.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2024 12:14     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid's school does this, too. Not sure why.


Bc dismissal is a very hectic time with a ton of moving parts. Go volunteer in a school and you’ll see.


I do volunteer. But 35 minutes before the final bell is not “dismissal time” in middle school. They are still in their last period block schedule class until the final bell rings. It isn’t like elementary school where kids need to collect their papers and book bags and line up by bus color. We are requiring kids to miss almost half of their 6th/7th period class by requiring them to leave 35 minutes early when they might only need to miss the last 15 minutes to make it to a 3pm appointment.


Dismissal is 2:35 so it was only 20 minutes before the bell rang.


Swanson is different than other APS middle schools because it lacks a bus ramp and has such limited parking. My kids are older now, but it seems completely reasonable for the school to say we don't want any extra vehicle/foot traffic during this window when we are trying to move kids and buses safely.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2024 10:55     Subject: Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

I will say I understand this policy but our MS doesn't seem to have it. I remember because I was surprised they didn't!
Anonymous
Post 11/19/2024 22:00     Subject: Re:Signing Kid Out Early for MD Appointment-- Swanson

Anonymous wrote:My child’s elementary school gets out at 3:50 and requires early pickups no later than 3:00. While 50 mins seems excessive, I abide by this policy.


Elementary school is totally different from middle school. In elementary school, the kids usually are winding down 30 minutes or more before the end of the day -- plus grades don't count for anything. That's not the case in middle school, where the students are changing classes/teachers every 80 minutes. Say your kid is taking their high-school level math class in last period, and they have a test for the first 60 minutes of the block. You should be able to let your kid stay in class until 2:15 so they can finish their test, without the receptionist biting your head off for showing up 15 minutes after the arbitrary sign-out deadline. Most parents are just trying to minimize the amount of class time that is missed for doctor/dentist appointments, which should be APS's goal too. And it is extremely hard to schedule appointments before school for the middle school kids, because APS middle schools start so early in the morning.