Re: New Drop-off Policy

Dear Ms. Rios,

In light of your recent announcement, communicated via email on 8 September 2024, we the undersigned parents wish to communicate our concerns and opposition to this new policy below. We think this decision does not reflect the will of a significant portion of the parents of lower grade kids beyond SK/JK, and we feel that this decision should at least have gone through a process of consultation before being implemented. Now that the policy has been in effect for a couple of weeks, we feel that the policy impacts us adversely for the following reasons:

Visibility and Safety

• Lower grade entrance gates are not visible from either side of the school at Father Serra. If entrances for lower grade classes were closer to, and visible from, the gates, such a policy may have been justified. However, currently lower grade students’ entrances happen to be behind the school building and invisible to parents standing at the gates. We are concerned that we cannot see our children once they turn that corner, especially since no staff member accompanies the children between the Norby and G gates.
• Over this past couple of weeks of implementing the new drop-off policy, we've actually witnessed this happen where invisibility has become a safety issue. A Grade 1 child who happened to arrive at 8:59 at the Norby gate was allowed in by a staff member, but later it turned out (through parent communication) that the G entrance had already been closed. So the Grade 1 child would have been stranded. An SK parent just happened to be there to kindly lead the Grade 1 child to the JK/SK gate. But we are left to wonder, what would have happened if the SK parent had not been there? Who would have guaranteed the child's safety? What if the child had wandered off the school grounds? Who would be accountable?
• Given the above, we wonder how the presence of parents in the school yard for a brief moment in the mornings poses a safety risk as stated in your September 8 announcement. If anything, we strongly believe that the absence of parents is more of a safety risk for younger kids.

Winter Time

• One of our biggest worries is winter time. Judging by previous years, during snowfall, the school grounds are not cleared properly or in a timely fashion, leaving only a narrow walkway in the school yard, parts of which are extremely slippery. How can we be sure that our children will be safe with no one walking them to their classroom in winter time?

Separation Anxiety for Younger Kids

• Additionally, many of our younger ones are still dealing with separation anxiety in the mornings, and this decision takes away from the little consolation they have with the parents staying with them until the last moment.

Absence of Convincing Reason

• Finally, your announcement states that “many schools have adopted this procedure and it works.” We are not sure how this justifies the policy or relates to Father Serra. Schools may adopt policies in accordance with their location, gate placement, visibility, and a host of other factors. Gate placement at Father Serra does not justify such a decision in our opinion.

We, the undersigned, believe implementing this policy does not necessarily provide a safer environment for our children, especially given the cases stated above, but it does add an unnecessary layer of stress to the parents and the children. We therefore ask that this policy be discontinued or at least Grade 1 parents be exempt from it. Please kindly let us know of your decision by next week.

Thank you