@ Tantrums &Turf Wars: The School Car Line Is Chaos

[anodyne]

Apr 18, 2024 11:28:48 GMT -5 Patsy Baloney said:

The folks I’ve observed doing early lineup seem to be the “idle and play on the phone” crowd.

Since we don’t have laws regarding idling, I’m hoping to create a project with our GS troop and partner with the schools on a no idling rule/no idling campaign. I was off of work through most of October last year and did a lot of pickups. Most everyone seems to drive non-hybrid/non-electric trucks, vans and SUVs and no one turns them off while waiting.

But perhaps we should also go HAM on the local govt to make an ordinance. I’m pretty fired up now reading all of this.

DDs school is working on a Green Ribbon classification and they have banned idling while waiting for pick up.  Maybe pushing for a green ribbon classification would work to give parents and incentive?

www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/index.html

[katb]

It was a mess when my kids were younger. When they were in elementary, I parked at a church across the street that opened it's lot to the school. There was even a crossing guard posted there for those that utilized it. I was amazed how little it was used. Maybe 10/15 cars each afternoon? That line is crazy long and people are rude. I will park my car and wait 10 minutes.

Middle school was horrible - the parents zooming in and out, cutting through parking lots, using the travel lane to stop, etc. I had him start walking to the corner store about a block away and picked him up there.

High school - On non sport days, I have to do it now because my teen drivers are away but it's actually not bad. In the afternoon, I pick him up at the end of the crosswalk path across the street. Every now and then you will see someone parking in front of a driveway or stopping in the road, but for the most part it's fine.

[livinitup]

When DD was in elementary school, we always had after care (the local YMCA staffed the program that took place in the school) and did pick-ups after work. It was NBD as parents came-in at different times and rotate through parking spots in front of the school. DD took the bus to school.

Well, around 5th, I did my first pick up at dismissal and it was eye opening. At least we didn’t have a car line with pick up. Instead, every car parked on the street and walked to the front door, then crammed into the vestibule, and picked up in a sort of controlled chaotic way.

It wasn’t good.

[EvieEthelGarland]

We bought our house when DS was 4 and I did not realize how great it is that both elementary and middle schools are walking distance. The child did not have to cross anything more than a residential street until 9th grade and in 9 years I dropped off and picked up maybe 25 times because of high winds or icy walkways. I tried to be an involved mom, but I just noped right on out of pick up arguments in the FB page and PTA meetings.

But on the few occasion I would pick him up, I always went early. It was a nice break to sit in the car and read or listen to music. 

[fluffycookie]

Parents start lining up at 2:30/2:45 for pick up from the elementary school near us that doesn't get out until 3:30. It's insane.  When DS was in one school there was a clearly visible sign saying no left hand turn out of the drop off/pick up area to alleviate traffic backing up.  Every day someone would take a left.  There was one woman who was publicly shamed a few years because she wouldn't wait in the drop off or pickup line and she would just drive around everyone and go to the front. A few people confronted her but she could of cared less.

[mrsslocombe]

Again, forgive the non-breeder asking dumb questions...

But...if you get on line at 2:30 for 3:30 dismissal, because otherwise the line is really long...

You are still waiting an hour. How long can it possibly take to distribute children? It can't take more than an hour? So aren't you just waiting even MORE time? In a car? When you could be at home where there is a couch and snacks?

I am never leaving Brooklyn.

[outnumbered]

Apr 18, 2024 9:10:40 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Apr 18, 2024 9:01:49 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

I didn't even think about backpacks.

Most kids don't bike to school in our town because the school doesn't have bike racks to secure the bikes during the day.

That seems like an easy fix that the PTA could fundraise for. Bike racks aren't too expensive. Installation is easy, too.

ETA: Things like this are wild to me because they're SO EASY to fix. A quick search brought up 10 spot bike racks for around $300. All it takes is one interested party, and BAM bike racks for everyone! Start slow, show that there is a need. Apply for a grant from Safe Routes to School, or even your local bike clubs, and you're in business.

When my kids were in elementary school there was only one bike rack all the way in back of the school. It was overcrowded. All it took for 2 more to be purchased and placed (1 on each side of the school) was me asking the principal. She told the PTO and they bought them.

My 8th grader rides to middle school. He straps his backpack to his equipment rack and we bought an instrument case that he can wear on his back. Unless the weather is bad, he is biking.

[penguingrrl]

I’ll say, it’s a point of pride for me that my failed campaign for borough council helped move the needle on sidewalks and pedestrian safety. Our town doesn’t have busing at all for K-8. That means everyone in town in a legal walker for school. The way we presented it was that it was a major liability for our town to both legally require students to walk to school and fail to provide adequate sidewalks for a safe route to school. That worked in my super Republican town because a lawsuit would be expensive. It’s a shame that the safety of children and environmental impact aren’t enough to motivate people, but I’ll take the win where I can get it. Even though I lost, bringing that issue up the way we did worked and folks all over town started talking about it. There are now two major roads that had no sidewalks at the time and now have sidewalks, and a few others are slated to get sidewalks soon.

We also have an anti-idling law outside our schools that the police strictly enforce, which is a good thing.

[pixy0stix]

Apr 18, 2024 15:24:25 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

Again, forgive the non-breeder asking dumb questions...

But...if you get on line at 2:30 for 3:30 dismissal, because otherwise the line is really long...

You are still waiting an hour. How long can it possibly take to distribute children? It can't take more than an hour? So aren't you just waiting even MORE time? In a car? When you could be at home where there is a couch and snacks?

I am never leaving Brooklyn.

Usually schools can clear within 10-15 min. The people that are lining up early are stupid. They all have *reasons* but reality doesn't match those reasons.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Apr 18, 2024 15:24:25 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

Again, forgive the non-breeder asking dumb questions...

But...if you get on line at 2:30 for 3:30 dismissal, because otherwise the line is really long...

You are still waiting an hour. How long can it possibly take to distribute children? It can't take more than an hour? So aren't you just waiting even MORE time? In a car? When you could be at home where there is a couch and snacks?

I am never leaving Brooklyn.

This isn't really a *thing* at my school, but those that do, do it because they have a quick turnaround to get to an after school activity and need to GTFO of the parking lot as quickly as possibly.

Elementary school ends at 3:55 here. An astounding number of activities start at 4:15.

[pixy0stix]

Apr 18, 2024 16:55:33 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

Apr 18, 2024 15:24:25 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

Again, forgive the non-breeder asking dumb questions...

But...if you get on line at 2:30 for 3:30 dismissal, because otherwise the line is really long...

You are still waiting an hour. How long can it possibly take to distribute children? It can't take more than an hour? So aren't you just waiting even MORE time? In a car? When you could be at home where there is a couch and snacks?

I am never leaving Brooklyn.

This isn't really a *thing* at my school, but those that do, do it because they have a quick turnaround to get to an after school activity and need to GTFO of the parking lot as quickly as possibly.

Elementary school ends at 3:55 here. An astounding number of activities start at 4:15.

Again, how do families where both parents work do it? The entire system is set up that we (general) need two income households just to survive, and yet all the kid stuff is geared specifically towards one working parent households.

I'm starting to see that things geared towards boys, with male coaches, tend to be later in the evening, and I wonder if that holds true as we age through activities.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Apr 18, 2024 17:15:32 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Apr 18, 2024 16:55:33 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

This isn't really a *thing* at my school, but those that do, do it because they have a quick turnaround to get to an after school activity and need to GTFO of the parking lot as quickly as possibly.

Elementary school ends at 3:55 here. An astounding number of activities start at 4:15.

Again, how do families where both parents work do it? The entire system is set up that we (general) need two income households just to survive, and yet all the kid stuff is geared specifically towards one working parent households.

I'm starting to see that things geared towards boys, with male coaches, tend to be later in the evening, and I wonder if that holds true as we age through activities.

Around here it seems to be by age, though i don't have firsthand experience with boys so I can't say for sure. The younger the kid, the earlier it starts. Which makes sense because the littler the kid, the earlier the bedtime... Except our schools are the reverse in that high school gets out earliest, then middle, then elementary. So high school kids are getting out at 2:30 and their activities (school sorts/activities excepted) start at 6 at the earliest, whereas elementary kids get out of school at 4 and their activities start at 5 at the *latest.* It's insane.

I don't know how working people without flexible schedules do it. I have a flexible schedule and the most I could regularly get away with such a thing is about once a week.

[loira]

I have never seen a car line here. Parents who pick up by car usually just park a couple of blocks away and walk to the school to wait for their kid to get out.

[gretchenindisguise]

At elementary school - I park across the street and walk over. Or he walks home.

For high schooler, we usually go about 15 minutes after school lets out and just drive in/out easily. Yesterday she had to be back at school 30 minutes after dismissal in different clothes (we live 10ish minutes away) and I was sitting at home reading something for work. So I drove over 30 minutes early, parked in drop off line, turned off the car and just read there. She sped out of class and we got out as quickly as we could.

We don't have busses.

[plutosmoon]

DD walks or bikes most of the time to her current school. Pickup and dropoff lines are pretty foreign to me. I live in a high poverty area, a lot of families take the bus since they don't have access to personal cars.

We don't have drop off or pick up lines, kids are just released en masse out the side door. There some cars parked nearby on the street. Her school is being closed at the end of summer school, so she will be back to her old school downtown in the fall. She will take the bus.

She took the bus in our previous houses, except during COVID (downtown school) because they didn't have enough space. I did drop off and there was no line, she still took the bus to aftercare during COVID, but on occasion I picked her up, there were maybe 10 cars, again not really a line because they just released all the kids at once with no regard as to where they went.

My last neighborhood lobbied for years for a crosswalk to the bus stop only to be told the street was too dangerous for a crosswalk. The very road my kid was required to cross to catch the bus was too dangerous for a crosswalk. We then began to lobby for a bus stop on the other side of the road, they are still fighting that fight. I did drive to that stop for safety and work timing reasons.

My city constantly applies for grants to fund things, but we don't always get them. Our state has really let our city down recently. Our city is struggling to keep the lights on and doors open to public spaces. It's tough to prioritize sidewalks when you watch the city laying off 30 teachers and closing a school they can't afford to fix.

[wambam]

There is an elementary school about a mile from my house. I had absolutely no idea what the line was like until I stopped working on Fridays and started walking my dog at school drop off/pickup times. It’s a complete mess. Was it like this when we were kids? I know some parents picked up/dropped off, but I don’t remember anything like what I saw.

[joy]

::backs out slowly::

My daughter’s school is three city blocks from our house. Everyone walks. I’ve never seen or experienced a car line. Growing up, I got myself to school starting in 2nd grade with a bike then walking then friends as we grew.

[Jalapeñomel]

Apr 18, 2024 17:15:32 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Apr 18, 2024 16:55:33 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

This isn't really a *thing* at my school, but those that do, do it because they have a quick turnaround to get to an after school activity and need to GTFO of the parking lot as quickly as possibly.

Elementary school ends at 3:55 here. An astounding number of activities start at 4:15.

Again, how do families where both parents work do it? The entire system is set up that we (general) need two income households just to survive, and yet all the kid stuff is geared specifically towards one working parent households.

I'm starting to see that things geared towards boys, with male coaches, tend to be later in the evening, and I wonder if that holds true as we age through activities.

We struggle with this and I’m out earlier than most jobs. It’s so frustrating to tell my kid he can’t do something because no one can get him there.

[pixy0stix]

Apr 18, 2024 18:03:02 GMT -5 plutosmoon said:

It's tough to prioritize sidewalks when you watch the city laying off 30 teachers and closing a school they can't afford to fix.

These are entirely different pots of money coming from different taxes and often governances. They don't relate to each other at all.

[plutosmoon]

Apr 18, 2024 19:12:23 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Apr 18, 2024 18:03:02 GMT -5 plutosmoon said:

It's tough to prioritize sidewalks when you watch the city laying off 30 teachers and closing a school they can't afford to fix.

These are entirely different pots of money coming from different taxes and often governances. They don't relate to each other at all.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. My point was when we don't get funding for these specific items. 

For example, we have been trying to build a bike path for over 10 years, there has been a ton of funding from various sources, and I am thrilled with this path and am excited for it to finally be built. There are a lot of reasons it is taking forever, but from my understanding part is funding. Once we finally build it, we need to also make sure there is a steady stream of funding from outside sources to maintain it, otherwise it could fall to our city budget. I know municipalities in the area have sued to the state for broken funding promises related to transportation, so people around here get nervous the support funds will be cut. It also seems to take a really really long time to get these various fundings. Our crosswalk requests had to wait years for funding to do a traffic study. Maybe my city just sucks at the funding requests?

[DotAndBuzz]

Apr 18, 2024 18:02:49 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

At elementary school - I park across the street and walk over. Or he walks home.

For high schooler, we usually go about 15 minutes after school lets out and just drive in/out easily. Yesterday she had to be back at school 30 minutes after dismissal in different clothes (we live 10ish minutes away) and I was sitting at home reading something for work. So I drove over 30 minutes early, parked in drop off line, turned off the car and just read there. She sped out of class and we got out as quickly as we could.

We don't have busses.

This is the way.

My kids took the bus to/from elem school, but their middle/high school has limited busing available. We carpool with 2 other families, and instead of showing up 45 minutes early to sit in line, we roll up 15 minutes after dismissal (when the kids are still sauntering out anyways). Drive up, they get in, drive out. Done. 

If I have to get one of them *right* before dismissal, for an appointment or something, there's a separate little pull around area where people don't line up, as it's an unspoken understanding that that section is reserved for the quick in and outs. No one parks there - it's kind of a miracle, no one wants to mess up the unwritten system, even though they *could* get a closer spot - so I can get in and out if I have to. Otherwise I just leave about 5 minutes before dismissal, and get there when the line is gone. 

[sonrisa]

Our school district is split into one school K-2, one 3-5, one 6-8. There are no car lines after second grade. The 3-5 has multiple possible approaches. Tthey block off the roads to cars (except school buses) to force kids to walk in.

[mrsukyankee]

In our area of London (and many others), we have no driving zones around schools during the hours when students may be walking in or walking out of the school. The only people who can drive through have to have a permit (usually live on the same road as the school. There are HUGE fines for driving down those roads w/o the permit. It's pissing off people and they are thinking it's just a money grab but it's actually about the safety of the students and those who live in the area. We used to have loads of drop offs and pick ups with idling as well. The only thing the council have not done well is in posting signs that are easy enough to see/give warnings. We really need to come up with some sort of lighting system for it (or a barrier system that people can get tags for if they need to drive down the road - but we won't be able to afford those in our council).

[basilosaurus]

If I lived near a school I'd be pissed at all these parents parking a couple blocks away, too. I can see why they'd do it, but surely there has to be some better way.

Bussing isn't an option in many locations, or it has issues like 6am pickups because of driver shortages.

[osulori]

Apr 18, 2024 11:47:35 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

these stories make me feel so fortunate. I do drop off 50% of the year and it is never an issue, maybe 1-2 cars in front of me. Pickup is rare because my child goes to an afterschool program, but on the rare occasions that I pick him up right at 3, the longest I have waited (with about 30-50 cars in front of me) has been 10 minutes tops.

Same.  Kid #1 goes to the before/after school program most days but on the random mornings I drop off, they have the line moving like a well oiled machine.  In the afternoon people will start lining up a solid 30 minutes before school starts dismissing the car riders so the line can back up onto the street but once the clock hits 2:45 it starts moving pretty quickly.  My dad picks #1 up from school an afternoon or two a week and he likes to get there at 2:20 so he can be "close to the front"...I try to tell him it doesn't matter but he has zero cares about it. Okay Poppop, you do you.  Usually school sends out a couple reminder emails a year to remind the walkers not to cut through people's yards, that car riders need to be ready to get out of the car when they get to the drop off spot, etc but it hasn't been bad on the days I've needed to do it. 

[breezy8407]

Whenever these things come up, I am very fortunate that we've had bussing for my kids. In elementary my kids also didn't start school until 9:30, so there was no way H or I could drop them off and still work. If we have something after school where we need to leave home before the bus drops off, I get them out of school at least 30 minutes before the school day ends to avoid the pick up line. Even though we have bussing, its still kind of chaotic.

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2024 4:43:40 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

If I lived near a school I'd be pissed at all these parents parking a couple blocks away, too. I can see why they'd do it, but surely there has to be some better way.

Bussing isn't an option in many locations, or it has issues like 6am pickups because of driver shortages.

Maybe it’s better to have the park a couple of block away than to have a long car line block regular traffic for a few hours a day? Either way it’s a nuisance for nearby residents and businesses. I agree that robust and reliable bussing, safe and sensible ways for kids to ride or walk to school, and accessible wraparound care are probably the best solutions.

[pixy0stix]

We occasionally have parents park in the neighborhood to pick up their middle school kids, which is virtually across the street. Since it's happening at a time when most of the resident cars are out of the neighborhood it's not inconvenient at all. They're there for about 10 min or so and then jet out.

[scm1011]

This also not a thing here as my kids school is on a city block with no parking lot / pull in spot. It’s a neighborhood school and everyone is within walk or biking distance (there are no buses, aside from city buses), but those that drive find spots in the neighborhood. I’m glad - it seems like something that would enrage me.

[picksthemusic]

We are super lucky that our district has a good bus system. They no longer do late buses for after school activities, but we have a robust bus system, and both my kids ride the bus.

That being said, our elementary is super strict with regard to car pickup. There is a designated pickup/drop off lane that goes in front of the school and it's managed by a couple of parent volunteers. They don't let you linger at all (no hugs/getting out), and they cone off the lane at certain times so people can't just park and wait. It helps a lot, and so folks tend to use the nearby neighborhood to park and walk to get their kids.

A lot of the middle school kids come and pick up their younger siblings and walk home too, since there is sort of a direct road link to the elementary from the middle school.

Not many kids ride their bikes to school at all. We have the same backpack/instrument case issue for our middle schoolers, also no access to lockers.