To support DS to break school rules?

[Woffa]

My DS's secondary school has issued a written ban on sixth formers driving to school and parking in the local roads nearby (even though there are no double yellow lines etc) to avoid upsetting the residents.
The bus fare for DS is expensive and the saving helps pay for his insurance.

AIBU to support him in ignoring the ban?

OP here- a few more details about Ds's situation:
The bus we pay £700 for is the school bus he used to get free until he went into the sixth form. It's school-specific, not a public bus.
We live in a rural area with very limited public transport. The only way he can do after school sport etc after the school bus time is if I can pick him up or arrange lift with a friend as we aren't on a bus route.
I admit to a degree of selfinterest as after many years of being a taxi service it would be great for him to be more independent!
Next year his sibling will be in Sixth form, so 2 bus passes would be £1400

How many adults travelling to, say an office, would leave their car at home and pay bus fare to avoid parking on a nearby road I wonder?

And yes, parents and students must always compromise, the school cannot move and has to respond to the concerns of the local community.

Parents and students are part of that 'local community' though. The school should serve them equally.

There are many families that are not so financially hard up that they would qualify for a bursary but the money for transport still does make a difference.

Would it not be nice for the school to find a compromise that brought all the community together rather than leaving different sectors at odds with one another? Just banning students from driving to school seems a somewhat half hearted solution IMO.

If a student has an agreed space to park then their vehicle would not be reported, therefore not starting off any disciplinary, therefore not causing an issue! So that becomes a non issue.

But the OP does not mentioned this has been suggested as a possibility. From the information available, a student could be reported, if spotted, just driving, to or from school.

Can't you see the difference? A touch PA possibly TTWK?

I'll let a PP's comment reply for me:

The school can enforce rules that relate to things that aren't illegal and take place immediately before and after school

"They would have no right to tell an 18 y/o pupil you cannot have shocking pink hair over the summer holiday!"

They won't be telling people where to park during the school holidays either.

They do however need to be a positive part of the local community. And when that community is telling them that they are causing a specific nuisance, then of course they are right to address it.

It takes ages before a community finally snaps into action. And they are right to deal with nuisance parking.

It'll probably end up with permit parking. If no change over the rest of this term, it could be in place by September.

It's not either or though is it Woffa? If he is capable of after school sport, then he is capable of parking a 20 minute walk, so half a mile, from school. Like I said, in a similar situation DS took his bike.

Massive sense of entitlement at play here. Is it really going to hurt the little darlings to park 1km or even 1 mile from the school in order to avoid being a total pain in the arse and to foster good community relations

Massive sense of entitlement at play here. Is it really going to hurt the darling residents to let other road users who have paid their road tax to park in a public street, to avoid being a total pain in the arse and to foster good community relations with the school?

"Next year his sibling will be in Sixth form, so 2 bus passes would be £1400"

According to MoneyExpert, the typical cost for each teen added to car insurance is £1194.

Except the school has no jurisdiction regarding parking outside of school grounds and has no grounds to attempt to control same.

The school does have jurisdiction over pupils though, including outside of school property. If a pupil is doing the parking, that is a pupil behaviour, and the school can have jurisdiction over it.

Well obviously it is a big issue for the local community, or they wouldn't have got together to raise the issue with the school.

It is an absolute pain not to be able to park near your own house, particularly if you are elderly or disabled or have shopping and small children.

Far more inconvenient than for a healthy boy to take a short walk every morning.

Woffa, just as a matter of interest, how far from the school do you live. It is feasible that he could cycle?

The school does have jurisdiction over pupils though, including outside of school property. If a pupil is doing the parking, that is a pupil behaviour, and the school can have jurisdiction over it.

What about parental jurisdiction? Where does that cover? Could my child be punished by the school for behaving badly at home? No, thought not...

I think the school needs to think carefully and consider everybody's needs with regards to this issue. There are ways round this that don't involve banning students from driving to and from school (which I mentioned upthread).

OP

I'd suggest that you contact your local LEA and ask about any possible subsidies, especially for when you have 2 of them to pay for. If you are rural and off the beaten track you may well get something.

As I said, we are very rural and very many students get subsidised travel, even those who live close, as the 3 mile straight line can often be much further by road, so I do understand.

Also, if you think you have good cause, contact the school, Transport Manage and/or HT, and ask if they have any suggestions given your circumstances. They may be able to help. But that would rely upon it being more than a case of inconvenience or the cost of the bus.

How many adults travelling to, say an office, would leave their car at home and pay bus fare to avoid parking on a nearby road I wonder?

I sort of do, leave the car home I mean, partly to avoid the hassle of finding a space. I pay train fare instead. It works out about the same to get from A to B but train is more pleasant way to travel. I know others who do similar.

I sympathise on the costs. It's going to cost £1100+/yr to get 2 DC to secondary for the next 6 yrs.

Many do... that's why Park and Ride was invented!

I haven't signed a "home/school agreement" for the last four years. They handed a booklet to me, around 30 pages long asking me to sign it when DS1 enrolled at the sixth form (which is an extension of their school). I said I'd take it home, read it and bring it back signed. I couldn't do that, they just wanted my signature so I refused and I told DS1 not to sign it either.

They did exactly the same thing when DS2 enrolled 2 years ago. I'm not signing something that they can and would use against me without reading it first. More fool those who do.

DS2 has a car because he uses it for work, college and socialising. We pay the insurance, it costs just over £800. He has a black box and the premium has reduced over the year. I am disabled, DH and DS1 are in the forces so I can't always be relied upon to get him places. He's going to uni in September to do nursing, some of the placements are 40 miles away. They told us they try to send students with cars on those but can't guarentee it and sometimes people who don't drive have to go on them and rely on public transport. It looks like DS2 will be keeping his car, and we'll be paying for the insurance, for a couple more years!

Similarly OP have you checked whether your DS could get an agreed parking space? People do 'rent' parking spaces on their drives in large towns and cities. This might be quite cost effective. I cannot see how the school could object to your DS driving, if there was an agreed parking space.

It is an absolute pain not to be able to park near your own house

Well don't buy a house near a school, station, football ground, etc.

If the school has just been built, than I have some sympathy for the residents. But assuming the school was there before they were, then fuck 'em!

The price they paid for their house would have reflected its proximity to the school.

How many adults travelling to, say an office, would leave their car at home and pay bus fare to avoid parking on a nearby road I wonder?

I did.

It cost far more in petrol than it did in bus fares.

Fairy, your DC signing the LA would be deemed consent to the T+Cs of enrolling! And if they do not sign that then the college loses money, so they do chase them, hard!

Should they ever infringe those T+Cs they would be held to them, just as any other student would. Should you/they choose not to abide then that would simply speed up the Disciplinary Procedure.

So your stance won't have gained you much.

As I said, such paperwork is my job. I do this day in and day out. Discuss it with tutors, students, parents and the occasional legal beagle on a regular basis. The bottom line is that Post 16 no one institution MUST teach a student. Should that student choose to embark upon behaviour that is deemed unacceptable they will be suspended and possibly expelled.

Having said that there are also very many times when those discussions uncover underlying issues that allow us to avoid any action. It all comes down to communication, understanding and compromise, on both sides.

So Philip Lawrence should have looked at the students who were fighting outside his school and shrugged 'parental jurisdiction'.

After all, when does 'home' finish and 'school' start

Compromise: park 10 mins away and get the benefit of a brisk walk.

Our school provide a designated car park for sixth form. The students then have to hand their keys in at the office. Keys are returned 20 mins after school ends. The theory is that it stops novice drivers battling the after school parent rush.
They're also not allowed to drive any students except siblings, even if the other child's parents give written permission.
When I queried DD being told off for parking on a local road, I was told that while they can't stop her parking on a public highway, I did agree to abide by their rules when she was enrolled. Therefore, failure to follow school rules will lead to consequences.
To be fair, I can see sense in what they're saying re novice drivers and the end of school rush.

TTWK
But people would have bought houses years ago, never imagining their street would be full of sixth formers with cars.

My DDs college has a massive car park absolutely crammed with Fiat 500s and crappy little pseudo minis. I don't recall a single student driving to school when I was in the sixth form.

So Philip Lawrence should have looked at the students who were fighting outside his school and shrugged 'parental jurisdiction'.

After all, when does 'home' finish and 'school' start

My point was more that lines can be blurred. How many times have we heard of schools refusing to act on occurrences outside the school? Yes, good schools are involved but good schools also should fairly take into consideration everybody's needs. Not just make half hearted decisions based on the nuisance factor of the local community and a perceived threat to their funding. Also £700 for a bus pass seems very steep. I wonder if 6th formers are disproportionately shouldering the cost of the school buses which have to run anyway.

Also £700 for a bus pass seems very steep.

I'd certainly agree with that~

Has the OP told us how far she lives from the school?