Carpool "Cutting" What to Do??

I hear you sister.. When our child was in elementary school, I was very active in the PTA and the drop off pick up was always a huge pain. We had some VERY close calls. There were also some deaths in the little towns around us at the time.one parent ran over her own child and another town a woman backed over a child.. . that really made us vigilant.

No matter how many times, we would send out notes, emails and warnings, parents just did not think it applied to their "Situation"..Everyone has an excuse.. Finally one year we actually trained the kids in class as to the proper way for the parents to drop off and pick up. It was pretty funny to hear the parents complain that their children refused to step between running cars and yell at their parents to "keep on driving!" Hee, hee,,

The other thing is we had a really funny dad put on a referee shirt with a yellow flag. and a whistle. He would motion using football gestures to let people know if they screwed up..

The final thing we did was document repeat offenders and ask them to help us come up with solutions. ie We put their butts out there to watch morning drop off and pick up, up close and personal. We sent the requests through their children saying, "could you make sure your mom sees that we really need her help with this project! " The kids were so excited they of course got the parents out there..

We also had sandwich boards made that were easy to read that reiterated "No cutting," "No passing", "Keep moving".. Our daughter has not been there in over 10 years and I notice they still use them.

7 moms found this helpful

The principal at our school was so fed up with the pickup/dropoff problem that she sent out an e-mail stating that if it didn't get better, she would call the local police department to monitor the situation and have them ticket the offenders... and you know what? She followed through.

The police did a sweep and ticketed those who turned the wrong way or dropped their kids off on the busy street. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Of course, unless they are there everyday, the problem will always exist.

As the others have said, there will always be those who think the rules don't apply to them. And you KNOW who you are. Get over yourself.

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We don't have this problem as much as people parking in no-parking zones and the kids will jump out of the car and you have to do a quick break or hit the kid. You are suppose to go around the school and let the kids out but parents think they can just park anywhere and let their kids out. It holds the traffic up and is very unsafe. Then those parents think they can just walk across the street and everyone is suppose to stop for them. There is a cross walk and I have no problem stopping for the people that us it but I refuse to stop for any parent or child that thinks the world is suppose to pause just for them if they don't follow the rules.
OK so that was more of a vent than a suggestion or help but I had to get it out.

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Well, I am in Plano too and there are plenty of schools here where some people cut because they obviously think they have priority for some reason. You know how some people are.........it's their world.

I sub there and I have not noticed cutting, MOST of the time people are civil and nice. The special ed gets picked up in the same line.

NOW, another story at the high school. The police officer must be outside...it is awful.

One lady was trying to pass people and took my mirror off my car. She had almost hit several people on other days and most of us had honked, etc. Lucky me....

She was mad when she hit my car!!! I was livid and I yes I yelled...WHAT ARE YOU THINKING. She was more upset when she realized she hit a nice sport Mercedes and that little incident cost her a pretty penny. I now park in a different area and avoid that line at all costs.

The only solution is to have officers around. I have seen them ticketing moms who think they are a little higher up than every one else.

Just think about Karma and it will come around.....

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I think this is one of those things that you just have to let go. Ask yourself ---can you do anything to prevent them from doing it(without acting like a fool in front of your kids)? The answer is no. So, why are you choosing to stress over it? When it happens to me at school, I say something like, "Oh, my. That car didn't take his turn. Was that nice? That wasn't nice at all! His mommy needs to talk to him!" I used the same reasoning to get over anxiety on the road, in the stores, anywhere you wait in line, because someone will always amaze you with their rudeness. I just tell myself that they're doing the best they can with where they are in life right now. It took alot of the stress out of my life.

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I have dealt with that as well in the mornings when I drop my daughter off. We usually get there a little before the doors are open and there are other parents there with me. We all use that time to relax and have a little time with our kids while we wait. It never fails that there are some that cut in at the front. I don't get it and it's plain and simple...rude. I have pity for the kids whose parents set that example. I guess all we can do is take a breath and not let it get to us. People are who they are and we don't have control over them no matter how frustrating it is. I guess a positive for me is that my daughter sees them and asks about it so it turns into an opportunity for a lesson for us. Hang in there...

1 mom found this helpful

My daughter is not in school yet, but the school is right up the hill from our home. Don't dare go through that area when it is pick up time because you can't get through! They just stop in the middle of the road! I have sat there for 20 minutes stuck in the mess because they literally just sit there and wait for their kids. Thankfully, you can go around to another street to access the same main road.

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If you have time, ask the teachers/volunteers/crossing guards what their suggestion is when they see parents doing this. They are the ones that need to take control of the situation (I say this now..next year will be different when my daughter goes to Kindergarten and I'll want to do something totally not child appropriate if I saw this happen!).
They should help manage the cars/parents. If cars cut ahead, maybe the kids in line should wait their turn. Not to punish the kids, but to teach the parents.

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You should ask in the office what the deal is with that...they would know.

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I can't stand those entitled acting idiots! They breed the same kind off dooshy kids, too. Sometimes, when they are trying to nose in on me, I don't even let them in, then I look at them like,"really?"

1 mom found this helpful

as long as there are schools there will be car pool cutting...sheesh, people are very selfish sometimes bring a book and don't worry unless they are making you late

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LOL. Do your kids go to our school?! We have this same problem. I'm so irritated. It's one thing if the line is at the end or almost end of the line - end of pickup time, then I don't mind letting someone in since I just joined the line myself about a minute or 2 ago. But if I've been waiting for 15-20 mins in line and the line starts up (beginning of pickup time), it makes my blood boil that people want to drive up and cut. they didn't wait at all for that early pickup time!

since there's no policing it and no way to deter it... nothing we can do about it unfortunately. oh well... karma. what goes around comes around.

1 mom found this helpful

There will be always parents who think rules don't apply to them...They do what is most convenient for their needs.

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Our school in Frisco is just like this. There is three pick up/drop off lines, but they still back up. I drop my kids off about 20 minutes early so I don't have to sit in it and ruin my day LOL. Parents are supposed to turn ONE WAY into the school, but they always come from the other way and take a quick right turn into the school and bypass the line completely. At pick up I park across the street and my kids walk to me. They have crossing guard and I'm right there. If I get there early I will park and walk to get them. That might be an option for you. My kids are released as walkers, but they know not to leave the corner without me. I don't have the patience for carpool!

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Sadly, as most of the moms pointed out, it is something that occurs frequently with crowded pick up lines. I have taken some measures by being one of the LAST parents to pick up and one of the first to drop off. There are key times that are more frustrating than others and by simply avoiding them, I am in a much better mood.
I did tell my son's teacher my plan and him, so they didn't think I was running late or forgot:)
Hopefully you can figure out a way to avoid the rush, too.
Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

Hmmm.
At my daughter's school, we weren't allowed to park. There was a circular drive and if your kid couldn't just run and hop in the car on your way through, you had to keep going around and around until they could.
There was a parking lot, don't get me wrong, but if you didn't want to park in it....you couldn't just sit in the pick-up zone.
Maybe some kids come out earlier than others and their parents see them so they zip up to get them and get out of the way.
I don't know, I'm just saying that's how it was at my daughter's school. There was a lady that stood out there and if you were there with no kid getting in the car, you were told to move on.
Maybe ask in the office what the school policy is on this.

Best wishes.

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In my daughter's old school I would arrive 20 min earlier to avoid the high traffic, well a second line paralel to us fromed EVERY single day of cars that got there late and were cutting into our line, the one they were suppose to be in EARLIER if they wanted to avoid traffic.
I spoke to the office and asked them are they supposed to be two lines because everyone one cuts in at the last minute and I still have to wait a long time to pick up my kid even though I got here 20 mins earlier every day-
They just laughed it off and said, oh no there's supposed to be just one line but you know people, they're in a hurry I guess.
ughhhh there was nothing we could do about it, it kept happening. We moved (not because of this of course) but thankfully in the new school there's a much bigger parking lot a I haven't seen anyone cutting in.
I know it's sooo annoying and frustrating I hope the school actually gets it resolved.

Yes and it is really annoying. However, I did find out that one of the regular "offenders" was a family tha tbid on an won a "first in line" pass at the previous year's auction.

That happened at our school last year. I don't do car pool this year but I did notice they put no cars on this side or no parking signs up where the people that did that would park.
Last year I would have to get to school at 2:20 for 3:30 let out to be able to get in the front of the line so I cold get my daughter to dance on time . Also at our school the different grades are in different sections so the Pre -k - k parents that get there before the bell go through and park at the front of the line because that's where their kids are, my son was prek last year, my daughter 2nd grade. But anyway in inevitably there were always 4 cars that always came up and around and bypassed everyone else went to the front of the line instead of waiting. There was this one truck that would come in the exit and back down to the very front of the line EVERY time.
They put the signs and I don't think people do it anymore.
Try complaining to the principal or guy in charge of car line direction.