My kids' school is RIDICULOUS

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24

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  • u2fergus
    u2fergus Posts: 422 Member
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    They can't tell you you're not allowed to pick up your kids by walking to get them. They're YOUR kids. What if you didn't have a car at all? I didn't realize having a family car was a prerequisite of attending public school... oh, wait... it's NOT. Just go get your kids on foot and walk home with them. We did that every day when I went to school. If they want to sue you over it (which they won't), you would win anyway. As for the secretary, it's a bummer she was rude, but you have to put yourself in her position... they're getting funds cut constantly and everybody gets mad at them, like it's their fault, when in reality, they're feeling it a lot more keenly even than you are. It's just a crappy situation all around, I'm afraid, and not likely to get better anytime soon.
  • Blufairae
    Blufairae Posts: 22 Member
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    I worked at an elementary school last year (middle school for this year), parents were allowed to walk and pick up their kids. In fact most parents that drove parked a few blocks away as the street is so narrow in front of the school and walked up to get their kids. There is no reason that I can see why you can't walk to two blocks to pick up your kids. The person you talked to was extremely rude however and you should notify the principal.
  • GTOgirl1969
    GTOgirl1969 Posts: 2,527 Member
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    I asked why I couldn't walk and they said that they locked all the entrances/exits besides the front one to the car loop (for security reasons). Plus, the woman I talked to said that there was no way they could prove that I wasn't just parking on a side street and slipping in and circumventing the car pick-up line.
  • arsenal45
    arsenal45 Posts: 211 Member
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    I still get steamed when I think about how my kids' school offers mozzerella sticks for a lunch entree. And the required vegetable side dish? You guessed it... a cup of marinara dipping sauce. Sheesh.
  • adrian_indy
    adrian_indy Posts: 1,444 Member
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    My kids are only 3 and 1, so I don't have to deal with this yet, but in Franklin County, Indiana, since the schools are in the red and no one for the last few years would vote to raise their taxes and my guess is the schools spent money on BS, the whole county has started charging $50 a week per child for bus services. Heck of a jump. Just on a the school near me, traffic is a nightmare since so many are driving now to pick up their children.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,695 Member
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    Blame the welfare queens eating their bonbons and driving their Caddys and their LV purses.
    How about blame the rich SOB's who KNOWINGLY robbed the American tax payers? And not one has gone to jail or been put on trial. People like to blame the poor and unfortunate who may cost a few million, but to blame the rich SOB's who made BILLIONS of scams..............................
  • daniface
    daniface Posts: 338 Member
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    why can't your kids walk back and forth from school by themselves if you are only 2 blocks away? not sure what kind of area you live in but thats not very far..
  • peteb79
    peteb79 Posts: 386
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    They might be able to say no to you, but surely they can not say no to all parents that walk.. get a bunch of parents together ...
  • emccand
    emccand Posts: 195 Member
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    Wow that is stupid! I would just say screw it and walk to pick them up, it will be good for you and them and YOU are the parent, if they have a problem with you walking your own children home from school screw them call and ream the principal and if they still complain call the local media and make a huge stink of it. Its a sad day when you cant even walk your children home from school I mean come on America!
  • jen_marie_1976
    jen_marie_1976 Posts: 41
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    Our schools do the same thing with the buses. and i did have to drop off and pick them up when i lived within 5 miles of the school. if you dont want to sit in the car pick up that long, dont get there so early...and for walking up to get the kids, its a saftey issue....i understand that i cant walk up and get my kids. The school wants to make sure the kids are going home with who there supposed to...theres to much going on when school gets out to watch every child go to the right people. i am very poor and i dont have gas to do it either.and the welfare thing, i understand that part to.. but there are people that do get state help and deserve it. and there are people that dont deserve it.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,695 Member
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    I still get steamed when I think about how my kids' school offers mozzerella sticks for a lunch entree. And the required vegetable side dish? You guessed it... a cup of marinara dipping sauce. Sheesh.
    Cost of lunches is directly related to how much money a school can get. Talk to your congressman.
  • shydaisi
    shydaisi Posts: 833 Member
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    I would walk... I mean, what are they going to do, keep your kids? Even if it takes the same amount of time, at least you save the gas and get a little exercise.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I asked why I couldn't walk and they said that they locked all the entrances/exits besides the front one to the car loop (for security reasons). Plus, the woman I talked to said that there was no way they could prove that I wasn't just parking on a side street and slipping in and circumventing the car pick-up line.

    That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. So what if you park on a side street and walk up? Are they Nazis or something?
  • Paiger
    Paiger Posts: 37 Member
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    An eye opener:

    "Not that facts make any difference. Somehow, a whole lot of parents are just convinced that nothing outside the home is safe. At the same time, they’re also convinced that their children are helpless to fend for themselves. While most of these parents walked to school as kids, or hiked the woods — or even took public transportation — they can’t imagine their own offspring doing the same thing"

    Check out a great book - "Free Range Kids" by Lenore Skenazy or website http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    and for walking up to get the kids, its a saftey issue....i understand that i cant walk up and get my kids. The school wants to make sure the kids are going home with who there supposed to...theres to much going on when school gets out to watch every child go to the right people.

    Since when does a car serve as a form of identification?
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    An eye opener:

    "Not that facts make any difference. Somehow, a whole lot of parents are just convinced that nothing outside the home is safe. At the same time, they’re also convinced that their children are helpless to fend for themselves. While most of these parents walked to school as kids, or hiked the woods — or even took public transportation — they can’t imagine their own offspring doing the same thing"

    Check out a great book - "Free Range Kids" by Lenore Skenazy or website http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/

    I don't know who you are and I don't know anything about you.

    But I love you.
  • Xaspar
    Xaspar Posts: 726 Member
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    I would have the hide of the b***h who hung up on you so snottily. And they cannot require you to drive. I would walk up and tell them you don't have a car to pick up your kids. Even if you have a car, it and the resources required to get it running were not made or purchased for sitting in the school traffic. You have a car for running errands, driving long distances and transporting your family to locations not within walking distance... LOL
    Better yet, give everyone a bicycle and have them ride to and from school, even faster. You can accompany them in the mornings and afternoons and lock their bikes up at the school in the meantime. They OUGHT to have bicycle racks available. And if not, request them through the school board.
    I understand the concept (I walked to school every day from age 10) but they have to provide accommodations to ease the traffic issue which is unsafe, wasteful and ridiculous.
  • PNWriter
    PNWriter Posts: 223 Member
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    Can your kids walk to school? We live about .25 miles from our school and my 8 year old daughter walks to and from by herself. If you live in an area where you're worried about safety, why don't you walk with him/her/them? Just an idea :)
  • angiolm
    angiolm Posts: 52
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    Wow I wonder why there is a child hood obesity epidemic when childrens options are be bussed two blocks, or get driven two blocks... I walked a kilometer to school when I was a kid, through a forest... and I never had any harm done, and there weren't really fat kids back then either.

    Ha. I totally sounded like an old person! lol.

    Don't forget that you walked through the forest uphill without shoes.

    Daddy, is that you? LOL
  • GTOgirl1969
    GTOgirl1969 Posts: 2,527 Member
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    I understand the concept (I walked to school every day from age 10) but they have to provide accommodations to ease the traffic issue which is unsafe, wasteful and ridiculous.

    My point exactly. If they want to be uber-controlling and have everything THEIR way, they should provide alternatives for those who can't drive.

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