The monetary penalty is not being imposed on students who don’t return their library books on time or on those caught chewing gum in class. Rather, an elementary school in Portland, Oregon, is slapping parents with a fee if they are late picking up their kids from school.
Running late because of a meeting at the office…
Cha-ching!
Lose track of time while chatting in the grocery store check-out line…
Cha-cha-ching!
Space out while tweeting about how your life consists of a series of endless errands, including picking up the kids from school… OMG! The kids!
Cha-cha-cha-ching!
According to news reports, if your child attends Woodmere Elementary School and you are more than 10 minutes late picking him up, you will be assessed a late fee. School administrators are charging delinquent parents 50 cents a minute for every minute a teacher has to watch a student beyond the 10-minute grace period.
Not surprisingly, the new late fee (ala Blockbuster and credit card companies) has its supporters and detractors.
Quite a few parents in the Portland area say they have no problem with the late charge, given that the concept is not foreign. Most daycares and private preschools in the city already charge late fees to parents who don’t show up on time to pick up their children. In fact, the 50-cent a minute late fee Woodmere is imposing pales in comparison to the $1 to $5 late fees some daycares in the area charge.
Conversely, there are a slew of parents who oppose the school’s late fee. Irate parents have flooded the school with complaints, saying that the fee is too harsh, especially in light of the slumping economy, record job loss and the amount of money moms and dads already shell out for school supplies.
Teachers at the school say they support the late fee (no surprise). Educators say it’s about time that chronically late parents, who pick up their kids well after dismissal time be held accountable for their actions. Teachers say parents know their child will be safe at the school, so some take advantage of this and get “free childcare.”
Not anymore.
What do you make of the late fee brouhaha? Do you think the fee is too much? Or, do you think it’s common courtesy to pick up your child from school on time and not make a teacher (who may have her own kids to pick up from school or daycare) “babysit” for free?
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