I'm just trying to figure out if I'm completely crazy and this is the new norm for schools or if our school has just gone over the top. I've had a child at this elementary school for 4 years now and this policy has always bugged me. We live across the street from the school. We can see the building and hear the announcements on the exterior loudspeakers from our house. I walk my children to and from school every day. When the principal determines that it is "inclement weather" which to her includes a light rain, children are not allowed to walk home and must be designated as a car rider or a bus rider. To do the car line I either have to go sit in my car in the line about 45 minutes before school lets out in order to get my children home at a decent time or my children have to wait at the school for about 45 minutes to an hour for me to get to them. Either way someone must waste an hour sitting.
The bus option is worse. Because of the high volume of kids on the bus on rainy days there are 2 runs. The "B" bus run got the kids home at 5:00 last night (school is dismissed at 3:05).
I grew up in the midwest walking home regardless of the weather. Yes, my mom came and parked along my walking route to pick me up if weather was bad, but that was up to her not the school to decide whether or not I should walk home. We now live in the Houston area so the worst case scenario for these kids is a rain storm. Now I do understand there a risk if there is lightning but she calls rainy day dismissal for even the most basic of showers.
So moms, are your kids allowed to walk home from school if it's raining outside?
Thanks,
K.
NEW UPDATE: Just received a newsletter from the school....the policy has been changed!!! Thanks to the downpour from Tropical Storm Hermine, and the inevitable flood of emails received by the school after our 2nd "Rainy Day Dismissal" of the year, common sense has won and we are now "allowed" to walk up to the school on rainy days to retrieve our children. They still are not allowed to simply walk home as usual, but with a parent they can walk home.
So, basically the school does not allow for any other manner, for the parents to pick up their kids? ONLY the car and bus lines???
Wow, the policy seems pretty crazy to me. I have lived in Montana all my life and frequently walked 1 1/2 miles home from school regardless of the weather.
I would continue to rebel against this policy, but then I guess I kind of enjoy that sort of thing :)
Yes, this seems crazy. We live in a town in a serious budget crunch, and kids under 2 miles don't get a bus at all! Kids will be walking in all kinds of weather, including heavy snow. The idea that kids CAN'T walk in the rain is such a waste of time, energy, and resources. Revolt! : )
Um, that's nuts- the school, I mean! LOL
Kids at our school walk rain or shine. The only time I have EVER known them to be kept in at school was a District-wide thing when there was a tornado warning! Seriously, they get umbrellas and raincoats and walk home, end of story.
That policy is just unrealistic- can't you find some other moms that think so and get it changed? Also, I mean, how on earth does it 'slow down' moms in cars if you decide to walk your kid across the street? I mean, do they not allow ordinary pedestrians either? Is the school area a 'walk-free' zone, lol?
At our school they are ENCOURAGING parents to have kids walk because it's healthier! Maybe you could bring that up= environmentally friendlier too! You go, mama! You are definitely in the right here, IMO!
I am really confused! How can they order you to pick the kids up in a car, what if you didn't own one? This just seems strange to me, I think it is up to parents how wet you want your child to get. I would continue to "rebel" against this..haha
Wait, wait, you can't go pick your kids up by foot if it's raining? It seems to me that if Mom or Dad is required to pick kids up in cases of "inclement weather" then their chosen method of transportation shouldn't have anything to do with it. If you walk across the street with an umbrella, you're not allowed to escort your kids home by foot? That's crazy.
Well, I live in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle, and if we called rainy days then we would NEVER walk home. That is the most ridiculous thing I have EVER heard of. Do the children melt?
So, if you were to walk over to the school to pick your children up they would not let the children walk home with you? Seriously?
I don't think I have heard of anything as absurd as that in a LONG time!
L.
You have to be kidding!!! We are Oregonian and our kids our like the mailman, neither rain, nor snow nor sleet our kids will walk. You have to live outside of a mile or there isn't a bus stop. No wonder all the Miss America's come from Texas if kids can't even walk in the rain. LOL!!!
That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! You can't pick your kid up in a light rain? Because they can't manage the logistics? I guess they can refuse to let the kids out if they are that worried about bad weather, but I don't care how many letters they sent home, I would come on foot anyway, every time, with my umbrellas. And I would politely talk to the principal and tell her/him that to force other transportation options upon you that are grossly inconvenient is not acceptable. It sounds like your school administrators have a logistics issue, which is their problem, not yours. They need a staff member or volunteer to oversee kids being dismissed directly to parents. There is no way if you show up in person, they can refuse your right to take your child. Crazy. Our school will only keep kids in case of a very severe thunderstorm or tornado warning.
That policy is ridiculous. Our school doesn't have a policy. Walkers get let out the back door even if it is a downpour.
You have to drive across the street to pick up your child--plus wait in your car an hour. Wow. I live in the midwest and we just get a reminder that we need to make sure our children are equipped with the right clothing accordiing to the season. A sil lives in CA and her kids walk home no matter what the weather.
My kids have all walked home in the rain and we were not across the street, but too close for the bus. I would try to arrange if I new it was raining, but i work and didn't always know it was raining at the school or just couldn't make arrangements in time. I live in north Texas and there have only been a few times where our schools made the kids call the parents to pick them up, usually lightning storms or a tornado watch scenario. Heck, last year my daughters Cross Country team ran in freezing rain for an hour before school (but that was high school not elementary).
So is this your schools policy or the district policy. It makes no sense. They could have a rain plan so that certain administrators or teachers can be in charge of handing off the walking kids to their walking parents.
Raincoats and umbrellas are used all over the nation, what a waste of fuel. I would suggest you get other parents that feel the way you do to approach this Principal and work out some options. We actually had a dad at our school that is the city Traffic Engineer take a look at our traffic situation at our elementary. The street wand school were built in the 50's and so the amount of traffic has changed dramatically. He made some great suggestions.. They were small, but it was reassuring to know it had been studied.
Maybe contact your city traffic engineer and see if they could help make some suggestions..
The only other option I can think of is to ask another parent that normally picks up their children to pick up your children and drop them off on these days.. Geesh want a hassle..
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Why don't you walk over with an umbrella and then walk them home?
<laughing> If the rules changed every time it rained HERE....
Seriously though, in our old district kids had to be physically handed off to a parent (either in person pickup, car line, or met at the bus... or the bus would take them back to the school, or the teacher back to the daycare area). In our new district (we don't attend) 3rd grade and up are sent on PUBLIC busses, and it's their responsibility to catch the durn bus and get off, and even k-2 which get school busses, if no parent is there they just leave the kid at the stop.
I agree... the car rule is RIDICULOUS. What about parents who don't own a car?
That makes no sense whatsoever. The kids getting off the bus to run to their houses are still going to be exposed to the weather. Some kids get picked up at one spot so they still wind up walking home from the bus stop.
Why not have some of the parents follow the buses to various routes and see how far the kids have to walk from the bus stop. Make notes of this and use it to make a point that the kids are still going to be exposed to weather even though they rode the bus home.
I also strongly suggest instead of writing letters got the to PTA meetings and the School Board meetings. Letters are great but showing up to those meetings will actually get you further than the letters will.
We live in Missouri City, outside of Houston, TX and it is the same here. If the school deems it a "rainy day dismissal", then you have to go and pick them up in the car. There isn't even a bus option at our school that I'm aware of. My kids aren't old enough for elementary school yet, but I have a friend who has kids there and this was the case last year (she also lived just on the other side of the fence from the school). They usually didn't tell you until about 15 minutes before school let out either, so it's not like you could go and get in the car line early or anything! I'm with you....I walked home from the bus stop many times in the pouring rain (I grew up in Florida, so we would have some crazy afternoon thunderstorms too!). It seems rediculous. Sorry you're having to deal with that. My daughter will start kinder next year and we'll be in the same boat (or car line!!).
