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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Parking for the school run

79 replies

LublieAva · 28/09/2010 14:52

More a question than a AIBU... do schools have the right (legal or moral) to tell parents that they may not park in public parking bays on a public street when coming to the school for drop off and pickup?

If you think they do have that right, then why when we are private citizens who pay our council tax and road tax?

OP posts:
doesthismatter · 28/09/2010 15:12

Those sorts of signs on a high street are usually there to protect the shopkeepers' livelihoods - so that people who want to use their shops have somewhere to park. Hence the limit being only one hour for anyone who goes there. Otherwise fewer people would go to those shops/businesses.

But if this is the reason - or there is another reason - it would be nicer if it had been explained to you rather than just being told you cant park there it is out of bounds. That type of "command" is bound to get parents annoyed.

GrimmaTheNome · 28/09/2010 15:17

5 mins walk is reasonable (for the able bodied). Across a busy road if the bays avoid this, isn't so reasonable, unless there is a proper crossing or lolliperson.

Original poster
LublieAva · 28/09/2010 16:09

I agree that 5 mins walk is reasonable, its just that I prefer the 2 minute walk!

doesthismatter - you are probably right that its about the shopkeepers (half of whom are estate agents), although I doubt they get much business at 9am.

I used to live on a street in London that was off a popular shopping and restaurant area. It was mixed resident parking and pay at meter bays and it was often difficult or even impossible to find a parking space within 10 minutes walk of my home which made coming back from sainsburys with a baby fun...). The point is though that those people had a right to park in my street and so I had no grounds for complaint. If I had made a fuss as they went up to the meter, they'd have thought i was A) Mad and B) Out of order for making them uncomfortable.

The thing is I don't think the HT has any right to do anything more than ask this is of parents and I don't think she even should ask as it is our right and by asking us she is making us feel uncomfortable about doing it.

So IMO she is in the wrong both ways.

OP posts:
Aussieng · 28/09/2010 16:48

I doubt the shopkeepers get much business (from people requiring parking spaces) at pick up time either since if it is anything like the newsagents near us they will be packed full of kids (allowed in 4 at a time) and the driving public avoid them like the plague!

I dont think the head has any right to tell you not to park there and I don't think the shopkeepers have any right to complain to the head either - if they are public parking bays (not reserved bays for users of the shops) then they are fair game for all users and I would resent being told not to use them. A polite request not to because it is interfering with the shops I might respond to however but I'm not keen on being dictated to.

cumfy · 28/09/2010 16:56

OP, could you give the whole text HT sent ?

SulisMum · 28/09/2010 16:59

Sounds very weird to me. How on earth are they going to police this anyway. If it's open to the public to park there, then you are a member of the public, surely?

penguin73 · 28/09/2010 17:14

I would suggest local businesses/people who want to use the spaces for shopping/work have complained and the HT is trying to appease the local community. Not legally enforceable but I don't see the issue with a short walk if there is a school patrol provided to get across the road. If not I would be speaking to the HT about that.

Avantia · 28/09/2010 17:14

Head can't ban parents from doing anything that isn't on school premises - what is she going to do if you do park there legally or not - detention ??

More to this surely ?

Original poster
LublieAva · 28/09/2010 17:20

if there is avantia then I do not know what. The HT just doesn't seem to know where her boundaries of authority lie (or how to say things diplomatically). The rest of the letter could be paraphrased as when picking up children... wait until we let you into the playground, then wait at respectful distance from the door and don't hang around : leave as soon as you have your children.

OP posts:
activate · 28/09/2010 17:20

ROFL at your head and of course he / she can't

a public parking bay that does not have limited time zones is just that - public and he cannot dictate what you do

Avantia · 28/09/2010 17:23

Well just ignore it or front her out and ask her direct - why ?

MrsMadWriggle · 28/09/2010 17:43

"wait until we let you into the playground, then wait at respectful distance from the door and don't hang around : leave as soon as you have your children"

.... don't linger make friends with any other parents, arrange playdates, put up your hand if you want to use the loo, do not pass Go, do not collect £200......

scarylooker · 28/09/2010 17:53

"Out of bounds" is a very odd phrase anyway - all sounds a bit, well, boarding school?

At our old school the HT asked parents to effectively agree to a one way system on the road where the school was. Completely voluntary of course, and it was designed to keep traffic moving for the benefit of the residents. If you were caught driving the other way you got named and shamed in the newsletter!

LillianGish · 28/09/2010 17:59

What would be the position if you needed to nip into one of the shops after school drop-off/before pick up? Sounds ridiculous - nothing to do with the school as long as you park legally.

hatwoman · 28/09/2010 18:07

as you say she doesn't know where her boundaries are. and if my head had issued something like that, as an instruction rather than a request, and without explanation I'd be pretty annoyed tbh. not really worth getting annoyed about, I know, but I know I would. probably wouldn;t do anything about it though (except ignore it).

If it is something to do with local shopkeepers then surely it's all a bit wrong headed - first I've heard a rumour that parents do other stuff as well as being parents. like shopping. and secondly there's more parking 5 mins away anyway...

taintedpaint · 28/09/2010 18:13

My guess is that local shopkeepers/businesses have complained about the school pick up lingerers (ie those who arrive 45 minutes before pick up time so they get a parking space close to the school) and the HT knows she won't get anywhere asking parents to be respectful, so she's having to use stronger language.

Since there is a parking area close by that you could use OP, can't you just, well, use that? Surely 3 minutes of walking isn't going to be that much of an imposition?

I'm saying this mainly because I've seen this become a massive problem in my local area. I pick up my nephew from school once a week and I see parents lined up in their cars for ages before children get out. It obstructs access for residents and shoppers and generally causes problems. As in your case, there is a very local place that is convienient for parking, but parents choose not to use it, simply because it is a slightly longer walk. Is it illegal for you (and my local parents) to do what you're doing? No. Is it rude? Yes, when done day in day out. And if the HT is making a point of this as strongly as she has, you can bet your life it's causing a massive problem for someone.

I have sympathy for you, and you could probably ignore this message from the HT, but I don't see why you need to.

whatkatydidathome · 28/09/2010 18:17

They do not have the right but they may well try it on.

Just because the head of a school tells you to do something doesn't mean that you have to - you're not at school any more :) but many heads seem think that many parents are Grin

TwasEverThus · 28/09/2010 18:25

We are asked (nicely) not to use the parking bays directly outside school - so that they are free for parents to 'drop and go' (ie, just pull to a stop, see the child out, then pull straight out again. The playground gate is just across the pavement).

This makes morning traffic flow much, much better. Nevertheless, the same old 5% of parents insist on 'blocking' the bays, parking and getting out for a chat. For this they should park in a side road imo and walk their dc to the gate, then chat as long as they like.

fedupofnamechanging · 28/09/2010 18:31

Schools often issue requests as demands. Given that their letters are written by educated people, they often have little concept of how to construct a polite and diplomatic sentence.

They also spend so much time dealing with children that they often forget how to communicate with adults. She appears to have forgotten that she is not your headteacher.

I would phone the council in the morning and find out where you stand on this legally. If the spaces are for the public, then I would continue to park there. If she then raised the issue with you, I would tell her (politely) to take care of her own business and stay out of everyone elses.

amidaiwish · 28/09/2010 18:34

i'm with taintedpaint on the parking issue
but the HT does sound like a nightmare, what is with the "get out of the school asap" line?!?

PosieParker · 28/09/2010 18:36

The school can ask, but not tell.

TheCoalitionNeedsYou · 28/09/2010 18:36

What are they going to do about it?

GiddyPickle · 28/09/2010 19:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hatwoman · 28/09/2010 19:10

tainted paint - I don;t see why it's rude. why should residents and shoppers get priority over parents? last time I looked they all pay the same taxes. why should picking children up from school be seen as somehow less deserving of a parking space than shopping. all much of a muchness imo - all part of daily community life.

sodacrystal · 28/09/2010 19:14

You are spot on giddypickle!

I am a HT and parking complaints of all kinds are the bane of my life (that and unlabelled jumpers!). Your HT has to show shopkeepers she has done everything possible, also local police might have asked her to do the letter (they do sometimes, why they think anyone listens to us I don't know...)

Your HT is trying her best in difficult circumstances when actually she has a million and one more important things to sort out.

BTW 'out-of-bounds' is a common school phrase, doesn't mean anything other than that. My guess is she wrote the letter in a hurry and in major exasperation!

Ignore the letter, and leave the HT alone, other than to give her big supportive smiles whenever you see her! (These are few and far between believe me, and are so much appreciated you will never know!)