Parents driving students for field trips-UPDATE pg 6

[anniemae]

You only have a few choices and it sounds like the only one that works for you is to drop her off and pick her up later since you don't want to send her with another driver, you don't want to keep her home and you don't want her doing worksheets.

I don't know how they can stop you from dropping off and picking her up on your own, but I understand they probably don't want everyone driving their kid. Plus, if they finish early you may not be there and it could get confusing waiting for parents to come pick up kids.

This seems strange to me, our field trips always use a bus

 

[kuhltiffany]

A few thoughts on this. Why so many field trips? That's a lot of out-of-classroom time. Perhaps with so many the board has run out of money to pay for bussing?

I used to drive children/and or their parents to appointments as part of my job. I had to provide a drivers abstract and proof of insurance, with extra liability coverage. I've never heard of shared driving in public school, in private school or scouting group we might though...

 

[HopperFan]

I'd like to get some feedback from other parents of kids in public schools.
1) Does your kid(s)' school ever utilize parent drivers for field trip transportation of students?
2) If so, what screening or requirements does the school have for parent drivers?
3) How do you feel about parents driving other students for field trips and have/would you be comfortable with your kid being driven by another parent (who you don't know) to a field trip?

1) NO. Strictly prohibited except for taking your own child home from an after school activity (sports mostly).
2) Driving not allowed AND all parent volunteers that go on trips (school buses) must have full background check to go.
3) Having had a BAD situation when DD went on overnight school trip caused by parent ... if my school was not providing school buses or coach buses .... my child would be staying home. And I did keep my kids home from a few trips I did not approve of.

8th Field trip? WOW, we are lucky to get 2 in a year.

Based on what you describe as their virtually no requirement to insure safety and claim they are not responsible ........ no way my child would be going. We would do what I did when I kept mine home ... our own field trip to somewhere special like the Zoo or museum etc.

Totally agree. There are many parents that we don’t ask/want to volunteer for a variety of reasons. I would think/hope that teachers would make a judgement call on who would be suitable candidates for driving.

In this day and age teachers are not going to fight a parent, make any negative comments or moves that would upset a parent. They will let administration handle it and stay out of it - and you can't blame them. The very bad situation my DD was part of was with a parent that EVERYONE knew had a serious problem. We were all concerned she was allowed to go. It turned out even worse than we expected.

 

[SirDuff]

8th Field trip? WOW, we are lucky to get 2 in a year.

The OP said 8th field trip at the school - not this year. It may only be 2-3 per year if her child started in kindergarten or pre-school.

 

[frostedpink]

I would drive my own child. I wouldn’t take the risk of them riding with someone else, nor would I want the liability of other kids in the car with me

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I also think, based on hearing my teacher friends talk, that most teachers know who the horror show families are and would not let them take a bunch of kids in their car.

Totally agree. There are many parents that we don’t ask/want to volunteer for a variety of reasons. I would think/hope that teachers would make a judgement call on who would be suitable candidates for driving.

How would teachers have any idea whether parents would be suitable candidates for driving? It's not like parents go to conferences and discuss how dependable, safe, and maintained their vehicle is, or how many driving infractions they have. I'm not sure how well the teachers know any of the parents, but DD's teacher has never met my husband (DD's dad), and I can guarantee she wouldn't recognize me, having only seen me once 8 months ago for a 5 min student-led conference.

 

[HopperFan]

The OP said 8th field trip at the school - not this year. It may only be 2-3 per year if her child started in kindergarten or pre-school.

Got it, I missed that but she's only in 2nd grade so that is still more than enough. I think if the school has run out of funds to pay for school buses then maybe that is a sign they shouldn't take any more trips.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

The OP said 8th field trip at the school - not this year. It may only be 2-3 per year if her child started in kindergarten or pre-school.

That's correct, 8 since kindergarten. 3 in K, 3 in 1st, and this is the second field trip this year. The first this school year was just over to the highschool for a free concert- buses, no parent chaperones at all.

 

[aejammers]

Are any parents of your DD's friends going to chaperone? You can email/send a note to the teacher that you only give permission for DD to ride with that person. Also touch base with the parent and let them know you asked for DD to ride with them.

 

[Disneylover99]

In this day and age teachers are not going to fight a parent, make any negative comments or moves that would upset a parent. They will let administration handle it and stay out of it - and you can't blame them. The very bad situation my DD was part of was with a parent that EVERYONE knew had a serious problem. We were all concerned she was allowed to go. It turned out even worse than we expected.

I guess it depends on the school and administration. The teachers decide on who goes on school trips at my school and the administration supports us.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Are any parents of your DD's friends going to chaperone? You can email/send a note to the teacher that you only give permission for DD to ride with that person. Also touch base with the parent and let them know you asked for DD to ride with them.

I've never met any of her friends' parents as she's never hung out with them outside of school. I wouldn't even know what their first names are to look up their contact info to try to meet them.

 

[Disneylover99]

How would teachers have any idea whether parents would be suitable candidates for driving? It's not like parents go to conferences and discuss how dependable, safe, and maintained their vehicle is, or how many driving infractions they have. I'm not sure how well the teachers know any of the parents, but DD's teacher has never met my husband (DD's dad), and I can guarantee she wouldn't recognize me, having only seen me once 8 months ago for a 5 min student-led conference.

As a parent, I completely understand why you would be hesitant and not on board with this. It is a judgement call.
I just know that buses arent all that safe either.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I'd like to get some feedback from other parents of kids in public schools.
1) Does your kid(s)' school ever utilize parent drivers for field trip transportation of students?
2) If so, what screening or requirements does the school have for parent drivers?
3) How do you feel about parents driving other students for field trips and have/would you be comfortable with your kid being driven by another parent (who you don't know) to a field trip?

My kids attend public school in MA - both now in middle school but speaking to our elementary school experience...

1.) No, never. There was some money budgeted from the district toward field trips, and the PTO raised money each year to supplement, particularly bus costs.

2.) Volunteers in our district are required to complete a MA CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) and a fingerprint check BEFORE participating in any school volunteer opportunities. The CORI check had to be repeated every two or three years. In addition, volunteers were supposed to be "monitored" by teachers at all times, meaning, they weren't supposed to be left alone with the kids, although this did happen from time to time. For example, we lost funding in our district for library services, so a small team of parents, including myself, staffed the library full time. Teachers weren't supposed to leave the library during this time but occasionally they would do so.

I can't imagine our district using parent drivers. Given the situation you describe, I am really surprised that there isn't some kind of check of a volunteer's driving record - or even to ensure a driver's license isn't suspended or revoked or something. I would think not having those checks in place would leave the school open to liability, but I'm no expert on such things.

3.) I would not be comfortable with the situation you describe. Reading it, my other thought was that I would not be comfortable in the volunteer position driving the kids, either! Too many issues over the years just chaperoning field trips!

"Bus transportation was always provided for students, and parents were expressly prohibited from driving other students (and often even their own kid) to/from field trips."

If this was the previous policy, I would want to know why it has been determined that it can be changed. It must have been in place for the safety of the students (and teachers and volunteers), so why is that no longer the case? Even with Middle School sports at my kids' school, parents are not supposed to drive their kids home from sporting events without pre-approval (and even then, it's strongly discouraged). Kind of a separate issue and a lot of parents complain, but I understand where the coaches (mostly teachers) want to minimize safety concerns of keeping track of kids and such...

 

[aprilgail]

2nd grade-If I was not driving she would not be going unless I knew the parent she was going with. Seven years old she was not even in a booster seat yet, still a 5 point harness seat which I am not removing from my car to have someone else put it in theirs. I can't even imagine a school putting themselves in the position of allowing kids into cars to go on a school trip.

 

[allison443]

I've never met any of her friends' parents as she's never hung out with them outside of school. I wouldn't even know what their first names are to look up their contact info to try to meet them.

I noticed you mentioned in your first post that you don’t know any of the other parents in the school but your daughter has been there since kindergarten. Haven’t there been any birthday parties for kids in the class? PTA meetings? Back to school night? Open houses? You never talked to anyone at drop off or pick up? My off topic advice is it’s very helpful to know other parents at the school/in your kids class.
For this transportation issue it does sound odd to me. Never encountered parents driving on a field trip-buses only. However I was a scout leader for years and we usually had parents drive groups of 3 or 4 kids. Smaller group so maybe there was more a level of trust there. We did not check driving records.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I noticed you mentioned in your first post that you don’t know any of the other parents in the school but your daughter has been there since kindergarten. Haven’t there been any birthday parties for kids in the class? PTA meetings? Back to school night? Open houses? You never talked to anyone at drop off or pick up? My off topic advice is it’s very helpful to know other parents at the school/in your kids class.
For this transportation issue it does sound odd to me. Never encountered parents driving on a field trip-buses only. However I was a scout leader for years and we usually had parents drive groups of 3 or 4 kids. Smaller group so maybe there was more a level of trust there. We did not check driving records.

She's been invited to a couple bday parties, but never for any of her actual friends (can only give out invites at school if the whole class is invited, so many just don't invite any classmates) so she didn't go. Back to school/open house night are the same thing here. This year we were in Disney and missed it, but it's never really a parent social interaction thing around here anyway, just a time to drop off enrollment paperwork and school supplies. Never been to a PTA meeting. Parents dont go into the school for dropoffs and pickups unless it's the middle of the school day.

 

[mjkacmom]

She's been invited to a couple bday parties, but never for any of her actual friends (can only give out invites at school if the whole class is invited, so many just don't invite any classmates) so she didn't go. Back to school/open house night are the same thing here. This year we were in Disney and missed it, but it's never really a parent social interaction thing around here anyway, just a time to drop off enrollment paperwork and school supplies. Never been to a PTA meeting. Parents dont go into the school for dropoffs and pickups unless it's the middle of the school day.

I’ve been hosting friends at my home, and my kids have been going over their friends’ homes since age 3, when they started preschool. My oldest was is 1st grade when #4 and #5 were born, but I made it a point to make sure my other kids could still socialize outside of school. There is a difference between school friends and “real” friends, which comes aparent around 3rd grade, when friend groups start to solidify. All of my kids were in mom/kid playgroups starting when they were babies, some of their friendships continue for many years, some fizzled out in middle school, but I’m still tight with most of the moms.

 

[BearFamily]

I'd like to get some feedback from other parents of kids in public schools.
1) Does your kid(s)' school ever utilize parent drivers for field trip transportation of students?
2) If so, what screening or requirements does the school have for parent drivers?
3) How do you feel about parents driving other students for field trips and have/would you be comfortable with your kid being driven by another parent (who you don't know) to a field trip?

I have never heard of something like this at a public school when it's a full class field trip. MAYBE something that's just a small group of kids going on an optional thing (honors band, etc.)

I teach at a private school without buses and we DO use parent drivers for all local field trips, unless they are a small enough group to use the school mini-sized-bus. Parents have to fill out a driving history form (and I think, provide their license and insurance?) Depending on their driving history they can be refused as drivers. Parents can also quietly make requests of who they'd like their child riding with in most cases. I've been perfectly fine with my child doing this on any number of field trips over the years. I've always known the parent she was being driven by.

 

[dotfurio]

1) Does your kid(s)' school ever utilize parent drivers for field trip transportation of students?
This only happened to us when DD was in private preschool. Never in public school.
2) If so, what screening or requirements does the school have for parent drivers?
In the one situation, there was no screening.
3) How do you feel about parents driving other students for field trips and have/would you be comfortable with your kid being driven by another parent (who you don't know) to a field trip?
I am not comfortable with it at all. For that one field trip my mom transported her (and just her). If it were my kid in your case, if they wouldn't allow me to transport her she wouldn't be going. I'd keep her home and take her to do something else fun that day.

 

[martikus]

I’ve been hosting friends at my home, and my kids have been going over their friends’ homes since age 3, when they started preschool. My oldest was is 1st grade when #4 and #5 were born, but I made it a point to make sure my other kids could still socialize outside of school. There is a difference between school friends and “real” friends, which comes aparent around 3rd grade, when friend groups start to solidify. All of my kids were in mom/kid playgroups starting when they were babies, some of their friendships continue for many years, some fizzled out in middle school, but I’m still tight with most of the moms.

OP I just wanted to chime in here as this reply reads a bit judgy to me (and I’m sure I could be reading too much into it) and I wanted you to know as an extreme introvert I don’t know many of DS’s friends/parents. Hosting something at my house fills me with extreme dread.

I have gone waaaaay outside my comfort zone and had a couple of his friends over (was able to get parent email when teachers didn’t hide the email addresses). And I make myself do one field trip a year.

My DS is so opposite introvert and does just fine. I am envious of how many people seem to make friends easily but the older I get the more I’ve learned to embrace who I am.