Sigh

It is frustrating when a situation occurs that changes the routine at a school that has worked brilliantly for the last five years (perhaps more, but we've only been attending for five). Up until mid-March the school allowed students to be picked up at the front of the school. Cars would line up along the sidewalk, kids would be dismissed to the appropriate car. Or, if the parent parked in a parking stall, then they would arrive in person to stand next to the Aid and the student would walk up, get checked off, and the parent/student would leave. It ran smooth, and it was quick.

Then one day, they changed it unannounced. They required all students to stand behind a line on the cement, all parents had to exit their vehicles and go up in person to request said student. Once approved by the Aid, the student could cross the line to the parent and they could leave. It was a zoo. Now while not all 1000 students (sadly, that is not a typo) get picked up daily, there are at least a hundred waiting (and realistically more). But I kept my mouth shut, thinking that they would work out the kinks. However, it never happened, and we left for summer with the same "behind the line pickup procedure".

Now with the start of this school year they are requiring both buildings to exit through Building A. Which means that my two kiddos who are in Building B must walk outside, across the kindergarten playground, into Building A, and walk down its hallway to the line of students congregating for pickup. Then, Aids will call individual students to come up front to be matched with their parent. Whereas, before all this change and procedure happened, they could walk out Building B and land right at the Aids feet by the sidewalk, ready to jump in my waiting car, and leave.

Chaos? Yes. Does it feel like an Auction with parents requesting student's, students waving in acknowledgment, Aids not knowing which one was Jack, Jacob, or John who just waved? Yes. Does it take three times as long? Yes. Can you tell I am frustrated? Yes.

So, I wrote an email last week to voice my concern to the Dean of Students. But it wasn't just a nag session, I do not believe in doing that (I do enough of that behind closed doors with only my good friends and family). In my email I voiced two possible solutions that they could try to help eliminate the chaos, frustration, and added wait time. I thought my suggestions were well planned, and workable.

I got no response.

Sigh.

Tomorrow I will try another approach and hand my pickup card to the Aid at exactly 3:40pm when the school is dismissed and see if she sticks with just my card until my children arrive, or if she gets an entire stack of pickup cards and has to play the Memory Game to sort out the chaos. Hmm. But I'm willing to see how this all works out until the end of the week.

All this time there have been no communication from the school, nothing to suggest that a parent custody battle flub up was made by the school giving the child to the wrong parent, nothing has been said why the change has been made from bad and then to worse in the procedure. However, if this was the case in sending a student home with the wrong custodian, let's have a system in place regarding those students, as they are in the minority at our school.

If you have a fantastic pickup procedure at your school, I'd love to hear it. I just might need to write another email and may need to have new ideas.

Sigh.