# Kindergartners sent home without parents' knowledge **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 30, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278 "2008-07-30T21:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/1 "2008-07-30T21:31:22Z")
Ah, a little bit of RO visits my very own neighborhood. After spending two hours caring for my neighbor’s kids after school, here’s the missive I sent winging its way to the principal. > [@](#): > > My daughter attends kindergarten at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Elementary. Today the children were released early due to an HVAC malfunction. > > This early release was handled in a totally unprofessional manner. Without verifying that parents had been alerted, the school simply put children as young as five years old on the bus, to be left at bus stops to fend for themselves. If a child’s parent was not aware of the situation, and kind neighbors did not intervene, children would be left to sit outdoors for almost three hours in 95 degree heat, and a subsequent electrical storm. At our bus stop alone, three children were left at the mercy of chance help from neighbors. > > Do I really have to inform you that this is unacceptable? Not only is it legally negligent (and I mean that in a very literal sense), but it is morally repugnant. Please respond as soon as possible with a detailed plan for avoiding this situation in the future. Now, the principal responded within an hour, and said it’s “under investigation,” and that she doesn’t want children to ever be without proper supervision. But this got me so scared and incensed, I just had to pour out the rage here. And I \*damn \*well better hear in the next few days what has been done to correct the situation! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/2 "2008-07-30T21:36:06Z")
I hope you cc’d the school district. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/3 "2008-07-30T21:39:50Z")
Good gravy! Who’s in charge over there? If you told your local newspaper about that, I suspect they’d publish the story. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/4 "2008-07-30T21:45:08Z")
OMFG. My kid is _eight_ and if something like this happened, I’d be looking for heads to roll. And, fwiw (hint: not much), it’s not RO, imho, if it involves something that happened _to you_, which it did, since you were “caught in the crossfire”, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/5 "2008-07-30T21:51:49Z")
For a mistake that egregious, I can’t imagine a simple “We amended our policies to insure this doesn’t happen again” satisfying much anyone. I would suspect someone’s going to need to get fired, at the very least reassigned, in order to again foster any measurable trust from the parents toward the school. That was just unconscionably poor judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/6 "2008-07-30T21:54:19Z")
Nasty shit. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/7 "2008-07-30T22:12:44Z")
Yes, I cc’d the area superintendent. And I’d better hear what their contingency plan is if they can’t contact a parent. As I re-read the answer I got, I grow more suspicious that their answer is, “We’ll make sure we can reach all the parents.” But what if you can’t? “Well, we’ll just make sure we can.” Yeah, but what if you can’t?! And yes, the thought of what my just-turned-five daughter would have gone through mentally, even if she’d been physically fine, in the event that she was abandoned alone at the bus stop, it just . . . only Madeline Kahn in \*Clue \*can describe it appropriately: > [@](#): > > That… it… it… flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my face, heaving… breath - , heaving breaths. Heaving breath… ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/8 "2008-07-30T22:23:56Z")
Well. Having a little boy who will be starting kindergarten in three weeks in Wake County, I’ll be following this thread _very_ carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/9 "2008-07-30T22:51:28Z")
I would be… livid is putting it mildly if this was my child who was left on the road side. My Mom is around, and when he starts in September the dayhome lady will pick him up so he’s got places to go… but still. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/10 "2008-07-30T23:03:46Z")
I’d have someone’s head, really. And that’s speaking as an administrator with 15,000 kids in my district. First, we use [this.](http://www.blackboardconnect.com/products/connect-ed.asp) . Parents decide what number/e-mail or text message number they want to get alerts from. We also have the ability to verify that any particular calls were verified or not. I’ve been through this a few times - small electrical fires, emergency lockdowns - things like that. We literally have 4 or 5 administrators in an empty classroom with lists, checking off who has or hasn’t been called. Meanwhile, the kids are off-site at a pre-designated area of refuge. From there, they are either released to parents, or if parents give permission, put on their bus. There IS no contingency if a parent isn’t reached. We hang on until we hear from a parent. Go to the next school board meeting. If you’re not shy about public speaking, write up a 2-3 minute long rant and read it during whatever portion of the meeting they do that. Most districts do. All of the local press probably has someone there, the board members who might not know it happened, and other, concerned parents. Make someone pay, even if it’s just to have them squirm uncomfortably and make the changes they have to. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/11 "2008-07-30T23:19:38Z")
[QUOTE=Mr Bus Guy] There IS no contingency if a parent isn’t reached. We hang on until we hear from a parent. [/QUOTE] Thanks for your inside info. And yes, my complaint is that they may be formulating a plan that relies on them reaching every parent on the first or second try, and they think if their contact info is good enough, that solves the whole problem. My question is, what do they do if the time of dismissal arrives and they haven’t contacted a parent? There should be a plan of where that kid will go until they do contact a parent, not just, “Oh, but I’m sure we’ll be able to get to a parent.” The extra crazy thing is, this school has a detailed evacuation plan in case of an accident at the local nuclear power plant (10.1 miles away), which involves, as you say, taking the children to a separate site and having parents pick them up. So why was this so hard for them? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/12 "2008-07-30T23:38:01Z")
You could give WRAL a call. They just reported on two (TWO!) kids in the past couple weeks who were dropped off at the wrong bus stop. One of them looked like he was about 6 and he was dropped off 4 miles from home. He started on knocking on strangers’ doors until he found someone who was luckily nice enough to get him where he was supposed to be. The said that bus driver was “disciplined”, whatever that means. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/13 "2008-07-30T23:56:29Z")
Alert the media. Someone needs to be fired. Whoever was responsible for this shouldn’t be trusted with a pencil sharpener, much less with the safety of children. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/14 "2008-07-31T00:23:29Z")
Heck, it’s good for the kids - teaches self-reliance. At least to the survivors. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/15 "2008-07-31T03:05:16Z")
Happened to me a few times. I think that might be why I refuse to go anywhere without a paperback. The first time, I broke into the house, but the parents put a lock on that window after that. (Broke into the house involving pressing open a crank window and wedging a screen loose. No actual damage) I’d almost forgotten about that. It sucked in ways many things also sucked. Wow. Childhood is a never-ending series of traumas, isn’t it? Edit: I think waiting for the bus for eight hours alone at an empty school was worse, though. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/16 "2008-07-31T03:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=Slacker] Alert the media. Someone needs to be fired. Whoever was responsible for this shouldn’t be trusted with a pencil sharpener, much less with the safety of children. [/QUOTE] I agree with this. The only way someone will actually get fired is if a story appears in the press. Otherwise the best you can hope for will amount to a revised policy and a letter that essentially says, “Oops”. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/17 "2008-07-31T03:33:22Z")
Wow. I cannot imagine the powerlessness feeling this must engender. I have a boy about to enter 1st grade, and if he was ever left stranded and scared by the roadside, I think I would just be about ballistic. Beyond ballistic. It’s one thing to ask your local school to parent your child when the child needs parenting, it’s another to ensure their safe travel to and from schools. That is indeed an outrage. I hate litigation for it’s sake, but this is an instance where I’d go for the jugular with a lawyer. There is no reasonable excuse for a school system to not get every child to their homes safely. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/18 "2008-07-31T03:56:19Z")
I’d definitely write to the school board, and if they don’t act, and fast, make it an issue at the next election (and before by going to the press.) I’ve seen incompetent principals hang on being buddy buddy with the superintendent who selected them, to get dumped by a new one. The school board is usually a bit more sensitive to the wishes of the parents. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/19 "2008-07-31T04:26:24Z")
I would call the police and CPS. This may tip over into criminal negligance. I would be beyond livid. I’d call the local paper as well. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278/20 "2008-07-31T06:20:33Z")
Another vote for alert the media (immediately - it isn’t news any more if it happened a week ago). Jeez, if this happened to my son I’d be over at the school strangling someone with my bare hands. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindergartners-sent-home-without-parents-knowledge/458278.md?page=2)