Anonymous wrote:I think there are two things to understand here.
One is that private schools need to get along with their neighbors, because if they don't, the neighbors can put in place restrictions that make things very difficult. Look at what GDS has gone through, or NCRC, or Green Acres, or many other schools. Often agreements with neighbors have very specific requirements for pick up and drop off, and when parents violate those agreements, it can put the school's ability to expand or change things in jeopardy. So, schools have a very strong incentive avoid parents who don't follow the rules.
The other is that there are plenty of parents who are very selfish at carpool. They try to skip the line, but driving next to the carpool line, putting kids at risk. They don't wait their turn and make everyone else's carpool time longer. They are generally a pain in the neck. And people who are selfish in carpool are almost always the people who don't add positively to the community. So, schools want to keep them out.
To this point, there are neighborhoods who are downright maniacal about cars and parking. One school DD went to required all parents to have numbered stickers on their cars -- so that if they parked anywhere in the surrounding area, they could be reported to the school. The bananas thing is that there was plenty of street parking available. I never understood the issue.