School Parking - Is this fair?

[Powerless]

Just a quick one!

My 3yr old DD goes to a Pre-School within the grounds of an Infant & Primary School. I am disabled and have been told it's ok to use the Disabled Bay to park when picking DD up. Great!

She finishes at 3:20pm

Problem is, they close the gates at 3pm until 3:40pm, during which a coach reverses in (which they open the gates for, obvs) and this unfortunately, blocks us in!

The blocking in until 3:40 I'm not overly worried about. Plenty of play equipment for madam and it's no big deal. But having to be there by 2:55-ish before gates closed, then sit for 25 mins in my car before Nursery finishes is really getting to me.

Yes it's only 25 mins and yes there are worse problems in the world. However she's there 4 days a week so it's 1 hour & 40 minutes per week of wasted time. It also means that from setting off to getting home, it's an hour. Just for pick up. When we live less than a mile away.

I had a word with Reception today and the lady just told me it was tough luck! That if I want to use Disabled parking then that's what has to happen!

Do I complain further? Or just suck it up?

Please be nice, I'm not insisting on special treatment, I'm not insisting I'm right, I'm just asking your opinion on it....? Thanks

OP Can you park in front of the closed/locked gates?

@FruitofAutumn It's not about inconvenience. It's about disabilities.

Besides, the Coach fills up with pupils at the other side. Nowhere near the entrance & exit for the cars parked. Hard to explain without knowing the set up

@defectiveinspector No, as it's about 10 metres of narrow lane where it joins the road. Coach would be blocked in

Would it matter that the coach was blocked in though if you leave at 3.20pm? It would only matter if you prevented it leaving.

Would an electric wheelchair help if you could use one? That way you'd get the enjoyment of the school run with your DD and she could sit on your lap if she's tired after pre-school.

If she goes to that school after pre-school, you're going to have this issue until she's 11.

Is there anywhere on double yellows you can park instead?

If you have a blue badge you can park on double yellows as long as you're not obstructing and there's no yellow markers on the pavement.

I use a wheelchair and that's how I used to park when my DD was in primary school.

Just realised it's already been suggested.

I kept my kindle in the glove box, took a coffee and sat and chilled out waiting.

Make a list of all those weekly jobs that take about 20-30 minutes, then allocate one to each day. So, on Monday you could do your online shopping order, Tuesday order some birthday/Christmas presents, Wednesday pay any bills. You get the idea.....you will be really on top of any admin then!!

Given that you sound genuinely disabled and genuinely struggling to walk someone from the school office should open and close the gate for you. You can't choose when or where your child gets collected. You really need that parking space.

Would an electric wheelchair help if you could use one? That way you'd get the enjoyment of the school run with your DD and she could sit on your lap if she's tired after pre-school Because they're soo easy to come by, aren't they?!

Could she released 20 minutes early?

Have you any idea how much missed learning time that would add up to over a year?

OP, it's not entitled to want to be able to leave your parking space.

I'm a wheelchair user and I have a few conditions. If I was trapped in a parking space, my PTSD would kick in and I'd FREAK. They need to make reasonable adjustments for disabled parents and blocking you into an accessible space isn't one of them. Please address this and take it to the governors as your next step.

To be honest I don't think it sounds that different from other parents who arrive early to get a close parking space, and then have to wait until children are out.
I have friends who take a coffee and a book to sit in the car with, and it could perhaps be some quiet time to chat and find out how the school day went?
Beyond the inevitable answers 'can't remember' and 'good'-

To be honest I don't think it sounds that different from other parents who arrive early to get a close parking space, and then have to wait until children are out

It is different because op doesn't have a choice to park further away. She has a real need to park close to the school.

Suck it up.

The gate closure is for the safety of ALL the children.

The staff is not there to serve the needs of an individual grown up every day; you'll have to wait.

If you don't want to be trapped, don't park on the school grounds.

And if that sounds unsympathetic, btw, it is because I am unsympathetic. And I have spent time in a wheelchair.

We've had 2 children knocked down by cars near our school last year because of the craziness of cars. And another 1 knocked down yesterday near the school on a crosswalk - yes at the weekend, but the problem in the area persists.

The safety of all the children has to be paramount.

Either arrange to pick her up early or late, park elsewhere, or plan to sit in your car for an extra period of time.

To be honest I don't think it sounds that different from other parents who arrive early to get a close parking space

It is completely different. The op is disabled and can't walk far. The disabled space is there for her (or other disabled drivers) to park in. The policy of locking the school gates and allowing only the coach through, is effectively putting the disbled parking space out of action.

Ignore what the receptionist said OP, and write a polite letter to the school explaining the situation and asking whether there is something that could be done to help.

In my view, the disabled space should not be made unavailable, and they need to make some sort of provision for you.

Don't want to come across as harbinger of doom, but is there just one BB spot? Just in case you need contingency plan if someone else uses it!

I think you should complain about the way the receptionist spoke to you! I would then have a conversation with the Head about what reasonable adjustments can be made so that you are not disadvantaged compared to parents without disabilities (i.e. you shouldn't need to give up 45 minutes of your day to collect). One idea would be that you are allowed to drive in and block the coach (rather than the other way round) and then allowed to leave before the coach.

YANBU. The school should not be removing the disabled parking facility 2-55-3.40pm which is effectively what they are doing. Complain and escalate to the governors if necessary.

The school I was involved with had disabled children & staff members. Still no vehicle was allowed to enter or leave the grounds whilst the coach was on site/the children were leaving.

The accommodation has been made - allowing you inside the school grounds in your vehicle. The locking of the gates is for the safety of the children. It’s up to you to work within the timescale.

Beware, that's an incredibly ableist post. And yes, school DOES have to put things into place for disabled parents as per the Equality Act. They're breaking the law if they don't make reasonable adjustments and trapping someone disabled in an accessible space is NOT a reasonable adjustment.

HTH.

DBN1 I used to work in care and worked with several wheelchair users who had got their electric ones via charities/grants and they can also be purchased second hand.

I’m not clear what solution you think would work for you? What do you want the school to do differently?