So what to do when there is no protocol for dismissal of 1-3rd graders? Like the high five idea.

At our school, walkers and car riders go to separate exits. Walkers line up in the cafeteria and have to high-five a staff member when they see their caretaker (lots of times, it seems to be an older sibling) before being dismissed. It seems chaotic to me, but the staff also look like they have the system down.

Now if they could do smething about the idling in the car line.

Taking roll to make sure nobody misses the bus sounds slightly crazy to me. How are they going to learn any independence? What happens when they get to middle school and nobody is doing that? If a couple kids are screwing around in the hallway because they know the bus won't leave without them, everyone else is punished and delayed by having to wait for them--how is that fair? We had a couple of kids miss the bus last year because of fooling around and walking down to the front at a slow ooze, and the natural consequence of an angry parent having to drive over and get them after the school called taught them not to do it again.

At our ES, special ed kids are walked to their buses by the teacher and if somebody is missing, the driver will wait. If somebody somehow gets left, the bus will turn around and come back. General ed? No way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the number thing may be too much at a bigger school, but shouldn't there be some accountability rather than just opening a door and letting them loose at the end of the day?

Why?

For elementary schools, which is what we are talking about here, in order to ensure the safety and legally mandated supervision of children. Schools act in loco parentis during school hours. According to the guidelines of most counties in this area children under the age of 8 years old may not be left without the supervision of either an adult or a caretaker over the age of 13, depending on the specific policy. Therefore, whoever has the care of children in this age range (grades K through probably 3) seems to me to have a legal obligation to ensure that the child is transferred to the supervision of another authorized party. If my interpretation of the legal language and its implications is correct, a school couldn't just release the youngest students at the end of the day without a procedure to make sure they get to the correct supervising adult, because if that resulted in an underage child left without supervision the school (as the last entity in a supervisory position over the child) would have been negligent with that student's care. That's just my understanding and thoughts though, I'm not a lawyer so I could be completely wrong.

At my elementary school, the dismissal policy was opening a door and letting them loose at the end of the day. Of course this was a while ago. But the in loco parentis idea applied then as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the number thing may be too much at a bigger school, but shouldn't there be some accountability rather than just opening a door and letting them loose at the end of the day?

Why?

For elementary schools, which is what we are talking about here, in order to ensure the safety and legally mandated supervision of children. Schools act in loco parentis during school hours. According to the guidelines of most counties in this area children under the age of 8 years old may not be left without the supervision of either an adult or a caretaker over the age of 13, depending on the specific policy. Therefore, whoever has the care of children in this age range (grades K through probably 3) seems to me to have a legal obligation to ensure that the child is transferred to the supervision of another authorized party. If my interpretation of the legal language and its implications is correct, a school couldn't just release the youngest students at the end of the day without a procedure to make sure they get to the correct supervising adult, because if that resulted in an underage child left without supervision the school (as the last entity in a supervisory position over the child) would have been negligent with that student's care. That's just my understanding and thoughts though, I'm not a lawyer so I could be completely wrong.

And a follow up to the previously posted principals newsletter:

Dismissal Reminders:

The dismissal process is running so much more smoothly since the first week of school as a
result of parents working with the school for the safety of our students. Please remember a
few things:

1. If your child is a walker, they will leave the school through the kindergarten doors. No
walkers will leave through the main entrance. If you park your car and meet your child at the
entrance doors, your child is a walker, not a car rider. If you park your car somewhere and your
child walks to meet you at the car, they are a walker, not a car rider. Some students are still
confused whether they are a car rider or walker.

2. We cannot allow parents to enter the building to pick up your walkers. It creates confusion
and chaos in the hallways and does not allow us to have a safe and orderly dismissal process.
Parents of kindergarten walkers should not enter the K rooms looking for your child. A teacher
will walk your kindergarten walker outside to meet you. Please respect this process, as it really
does help.

3. Car riders and walkers are not dismissed the same way. If your child is a walker, they are
asked to leave when walkers are called and meet a parent or sibling at the kindergarten doors or
walk home (whichever a parent has told them to do). Car riders do NOT exit from the
kindergarten doors right away. Car riders wait inside the classroom until their name is called for
pick up.

4. Car riders are housed in two kindergarten rooms until their ride has arrived. When the staff
on duty gets the call that a student's parent is there, a patrol or older sibling will escort the
younger students to their car. They will walk to the car on their own if they are an older student.
Please do not leave your vehicle unattended in the car rider pick up lane.

My (big) school makes a feeble attempt at the wlker/rider door. There is some staff but they can not supervise every kid and every parent. Some kids are meeting around the corner to avoid traffic.

Anonymous wrote:So there is a line of over 100 cars waiting at the end of the school day? I think at my school the parents would actually get annoyed with this and start pciking up around the corner etc. How many kids at MCPS don't get on the right bus each day past day 1? I am impressed the school devotes so much staff to it. 6 teachers to handle the non-bus kids and 1 teacher per bus taking attendance. I guess the busses wait while discrepancies are figured out. Where is Bobby? I think he left early? No I think he came back..

The buses don't wait because the kids don't come out until everyone is accounted for. Again, it takes maybe 5 minutes before the bus riders are on the bus. And there aren't 100 cars because some kids are walkers and some cars are picking up 2 or 3 kids. When I've been in the end of the line, it's maybe 20 cars long, but again, it takes 10 minutes.

Copied from the principals newsletter:

Dismissal Procedures

Please always notify the office in writing of any changes in your child’s way of getting home. If you
have a last minute change, please contact the office and let us know. We appreciate a 30 minute
heads up whenever possible. As you can imagine, dismissing 650+ students at the end of the day
is quite a task.

Kindergarteners– All kindergarten bus riders will be picked up from their classrooms by a safety patrol
and escorted to the front hallway to wait for their buses to be called. They will wait with their assigned
patrol. Walkers will be met outside near the kindergarten entrance. These students will be with their
teachers and the teachers will release them to you.
Bus Riders - Students who ride a bus home will wait in their classrooms until their buses are called. We
will call one or two buses at a time. We always give a first call, second call, and final call to students
riding buses to ensure they do not miss the bus.

Car Riders - When you pull up to the pickup lane, please give the staff members on duty your child’s
name. All car riders will wait in the school until their car arrives. Staff on duty will walkie-talkie to
another staff member and your child will be escorted to the car.

Walkers –Walkers are dismissed just before the carpoolers and should exit the building immediately
when they are called. Walkers are not to hang around with the car riders when they leave the building, as
this sometimes confuses the staff on duty when walkers get mixed up with the car riders. If you or a
sibling of a student is picking up a walker, please meet them at the kindergarten doors. Due to
safety and security concerns and the protection of your children, we do not allow parents to enter
the building at dismissal to pick up students.

No students should linger after school to visit with teachers and/or friends. We dismiss over 650
students daily in a short amount of time so it is important that students understand the procedures.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Anonymous wrote:So the number thing may be too much at a bigger school, but shouldn't there be some accountability rather than just opening a door and letting them loose at the end of the day?

Why?

Anonymous wrote:Ah..a really small school..My ES has over 800. It couldn't happen there. Though we do not have such a low bus rider rate either so that would make it easier.

My child's school is smaller, and the system is: walkers and car riders go out the door and wait with one adult and two patrols. If you're an independent walker, go. If you're a walker and you see your parent, go. If you're a car rider and your parent parked in the parking lot and walked to get you, go. If you're a car rider and you see your parent's car in the pick-up area of the car line, go. There is one adult who insists on the back-and-forth with the parents in the car line, and then pick-up takes twice as long.

So the number thing may be too much at a bigger school, but shouldn't there be some accountability rather than just opening a door and letting them loose at the end of the day?

Ah..a really small school..My ES has over 800. It couldn't happen there. Though we do not have such a low bus rider rate either so that would make it easier.

12:18 again

There are maybe 10 adults and a bunch of patrols helping. Parents of walkers line up outside the cafeteria door and someone gets their numbers, then those kids are released. Takes about 5 minutes.

For drivers, someone is outside with a walkie talkie calling in numbers as the parents pull into the carpool line. All kids are in their cars and gone within about 10 minutes. Anyone who might ever pick up their kid gets a number at the start of the year (or the parents can park and join the walkers line, which is a little more flexible). It's amazingly efficient.

There are probably about 400 kids total at the school, maybe half of whom get picke up by a parent.