Anonymous wrote:Asking about elementary schools' later opening time in Montgomery County: Can I drop my 4th grader in front of the closed doors at 8:30?
I have to get to work, and my new boss is a stickler for punctuality. Last year, when the doors opened at 8:30, I barely made it at 9AM...Now with school opening at 8:45, I worry.
My daughter is a responsible kid--heck, she's in fourth grade.
How much trouble will I be in for dropping her off at 8:30?
--Working mom who walked herself to kindergarten, 'way back when...

Why are you just now figuring out this? You've clearly known for months.

OP,
Is there a bus stop in your area that picks up at 8:30 or earlier? I have a neighbor who drops of his child at a bus stop on the other side of the neighborhood so he can get to work earlier.
The others parents don't mind hanging out with the child until the bus comes as they are there with their own children anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Simple solution - ask your boss to flex your hours, pay for AM child care or have dad, friend, relative or neighbor watch her. It is not the schools responsibility to be the child care provider so you can work.

OP is not asking the school to be the child care provider. The child is in fourth grade and is capable of providing her own care. OP is simply asking whether the child may provide her own care in front of the school.

I think MCPS is going to have far more of these kids on their hands than they think. This schedule change is absurd. I was already not getting to work downtown until 10am and we have a Tier 1 school. Tier 2 will not start until 9:25 this year. Ludicrously ignorant of parents needs.

My 5th grader will be walking because I would need to off by 8:20 to get my other kid to school on time. Otherwise, I'd have to double back. We don't get a bus (even though at other ESs, I have seen children that live closer and with safer sidewalks to their school get picked up by a bus).

And I fully expect you'll get called out by the school for early drop off because of the liability issues. First thing I'd check though, is if all of the property surrounding your school is MCPS property or is part of it Parks and Planning property. Your child can wait in a Park-operated land without MCPS being able to do anything about it. Many MCPS properties adjoin such land. Ours does.

Happens all the time where I teach. There are benches in front of the school where kids listen to music or play cell phone games for 20 minutes until the buses start dropping off kids.

Simple solution - ask your boss to flex your hours, pay for AM child care or have dad, friend, relative or neighbor watch her. It is not the schools responsibility to be the child care provider so you can work.

Anonymous wrote:

I think MD just passed a law or is about to due to the "free range" SS couple that allows for kids to walk by themselves unsupervised. I forget the exact law, but I'm sure you can google it.

No, the Maryland Department of Human Resources issued a policy directive in June that "clarified" that Child Protective Services should not be involved when children play or walk alone outdoors unless the children have been harmed or face a substantial risk of harm.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/state-seeks-to-clarify-views-about-young-children-walking-alone/2015/06/11/423ce72c-0b99-11e5-95fd-d580f1c5d44e_story.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure how they plan to regulate this. Children are allowed to be unsupervised (though not supervise younger children) at age 8 in MD. MCPS allows people on school grounds during time while school is not in session. So it seems that she would be allowed to be there. It they tried to restrict her from school grounds, it seems that they would have no way to keep her from waiting just off school grounds.

Actually that's an incorrect understanding of the law. Maryland law does not specify a minimum age at which children are allowed to be unsupervised. The age-8 restriction is only for confining children in cars or buildings. It's for fire safety.

But yes, I agree. I don't know how the school would regulate it, given that people are allowed to be on school grounds and fourth-graders are allowed to be out in the world on their own.

I think MD just passed a law or is about to due to the "free range" SS couple that allows for kids to walk by themselves unsupervised. I forget the exact law, but I'm sure you can google it.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure how they plan to regulate this. Children are allowed to be unsupervised (though not supervise younger children) at age 8 in MD. MCPS allows people on school grounds during time while school is not in session. So it seems that she would be allowed to be there. It they tried to restrict her from school grounds, it seems that they would have no way to keep her from waiting just off school grounds.

Actually that's an incorrect understanding of the law. Maryland law does not specify a minimum age at which children are allowed to be unsupervised. The age-8 restriction is only for confining children in cars or buildings. It's for fire safety.

But yes, I agree. I don't know how the school would regulate it, given that people are allowed to be on school grounds and fourth-graders are allowed to be out in the world on their own.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope, school won't allow it. Can she visit a neighbor before heading to school? Or take the bus?

What does "school won't allow it" mean? What will the school do?

OP's child is in fourth grade -- she's 9 or 10, not 5.

The school will call the parents. As to what happens after that, I don't know. But they will act on it.

And then what? Report OP to CPS for dropping off a 9-year-old at school 15 minutes before school starts?

Anonymous wrote:

It's unsafe because the school will view themselves as liable, and if anything were to happen to this child, don't you think the parents would blame the school? Yes, they would. And the school knows that. Whatever, who cares about that point- the point is, the school says it's not allowable yet OP wants to do her own thing anyway.

Oh, you mean that it's unsafe for the school, because of liability. I thought that people were saying that it's unsafe for the child.

I'm not sure how they plan to regulate this. Children are allowed to be unsupervised (though not supervise younger children) at age 8 in MD. MCPS allows people on school grounds during time while school is not in session. So it seems that she would be allowed to be there. It they tried to restrict her from school grounds, it seems that they would have no way to keep her from waiting just off school grounds.

OP, you should probably go to prison for that kind of thinking. Leaving a 10 year old outside, unsupervised???

And for the people who say that children are "not allowed" to wait in front of the school before adults supervisors arrive, that's a ridiculous and untenable position.

There is no law that prohibits a child waiting at school. A responsible fourth grader can wait at school and know not to wander off or get into a stranger's car. Plus, there will be other children around, OP is not the only parent in this predicament, who won't or can't pay for before care.

How helicopter can you get. Really.

Why can't she wait just off the school grounds until it's time? Is she over 8? Drop her a block away and let her walk (slowly) the rest?

LOL at the PP who says a responsible 10 year old can handle riding the bus by themselves. Unless your child is not developmentally typical (and often even then), they can all can handle that, that's why the buses start with kindergarten.