Friday Schedule for playgroup

amother

OP ↓

Sat, Feb 25 2023, 10:23 pm

I work every friday in playgroup and there is an issue thats bothering our staff. Our hrs are till 12pm on fridays and the mothers think they cld shine in between 12:00 12:15pm. We tried every tactic out there and they seem to ignore it. We tried closing lights, send home notes to parents, teachers leaving 12pm sharp, and the secretary watches kids. But nothing helped so far..... the last resort that I think wld help is that these parents will need to pay out of pocket for their lateness bec its vouchers playgroup

amother

Cerise ↓

Sat, Feb 25 2023, 10:48 pm

Have you asked parents why they come late on Friday?

Are you usually chilled about late pickup except for Friday?

Is traffic in your area unusually heavy on Friday?

In my community, it is acceptable to pickup within 10 minutes of pickup time without being considered late. Is that the norm for daycare in your area?

amother

Lightgreen

Sat, Feb 25 2023, 10:52 pm

Be aware that studies have shown that when late pickup starts getting charged for, it actually increases- people see it as a legitimate thing they can pay for when they need it and use it often.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 11:37 am

Its not going to help.... we tried changing to 1145 and parents didnt show up till 12pm... We finished today 1230- not a single parent came b4 1230... I left 1240 and there were still kids left... the secretary stayed behind with kids.... we sent home notes that they should please be on time but they ignore msg....

amother

DarkYellow

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 11:42 am

Fridays are insane. It's such a short day, and playgroups charge so much. Really, I think you should factor it in. It's expecting a lot of the mothers to be exactly on time, especially when everyone hits the roads at 12 on Fridays.

Rachel Shira

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 11:46 am

You need to have a window of time. 11:50-12:00 or 12:00-12:10. When they come late, remind them it’s promptly during that time frame. Make pickup a little more annoying for the parent if they come after the ten minutes end (for example bring them to the office if carpool is from the entrance.)

amother

Antiquewhite

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 12:28 pm

amother OP wrote:

were vouchers and all parents live on the block or at most 3 blocks away... no excuse....

If you get vouchers even if the parents aren't paying you ( or the playgroup) are making a fortune
15 minutes late is not considered late the playgroup should be informing the teachers that they need to stay am extra 15 minutes for pickup
Also why is it different all week?

amother

Powderblue

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 12:28 pm

amother OP wrote:

were vouchers and all parents live on the block or at most 3 blocks away... no excuse....

Do they work?

Maybe they have to pick up another kid at the same time from a diff location? Or wait at a bus stop.

I'm not saying it's ok for them to be late. Just trying to give some possibilities of why it might be happening.

I think you can charge for the extra 15 min, but like another poster said most parents will prob sign up for it

amother

Sage

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 12:55 pm

amother OP wrote:

So do 1145.
You'll still get out by 12, which is what you want.

amother

Burlywood

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 1:04 pm

amother OP wrote:

Its not going to help.... we tried changing to 1145 and parents didnt show up till 12pm...

This sounds like it worked out well. Isn’t that exactly what you want?

In other words, you tell the parents that dismissal is at 11:45 and you tell the staff that dismissal/end of work hours is at 12:00

amother

Dahlia

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 1:12 pm

Years ago my son was in a legal daycare. I think there was a 5 minute grace period to coming late. After that they charged, but not a normal amount. Like $15 for 5 minutes. Nobody wants to pay $30 for coming 10 minutes late.

amother

Ballota

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 1:13 pm

Try this

Attention parents

Due to the frequent late friday pickups, we will begin late start Mondays depending on how late we stay friday for the last parent. So if the last parent picks up 12:15, we will notify you by text 15 minute late start. We legally cannot require our staff to stay overtime without making up the time.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
The secretary/teacher.

That said, due to unpredictable traffic in my area, I can be 2-3 minutes late for 12:00 pickup. Even when leaving early to pickup, it happens. Once dh at 11:50, a few houses away from Morah got stuck behind a double parked car that blocked the entire street for 10 minutes causing gridlock in the entire area. I called the Morah explaining, and she totally understood, said no one came to pickup since everyone is stuck in that gridlock. These things do happen, but no it shouldn’t be a weekly regular thing.

amother

↑ Cerise

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 1:54 pm

amother Burlywood wrote:

This is the only way to make it work. People will always be late. Its just the way it is.

In my school, we begin dismissal at 3:30. Parents are told that school ends 3:45 promptly. Staff are paid to stay until 4, but can leave early if all their students are gone and the classroom is clean and ready for the next day.

Nobody has ever needed to stay past 4. (Our contingency plan if that happens is that we have a designated staff member who takes them home with her and parents pick up from her house)

ETA: We do a similar system for Friday, 11:30, 11:45, 12:00.

amother

Snapdragon

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 1:54 pm

I don’t understand, if school is over at 12:00 then why would I come at 11:45? 12:00 means the teacher will be able to go home at 12:15, how can you expect to leave at 12?
FYI 12 is early for Friday, especially with the days getting longer

amother

Fern

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 8:17 pm

Our playgroup is 11:30-11:45 pickup. So everyone is gone by 12 . In the summer it changes to 11:45- 12.

I’m a chronically late parent (I work at a very intense, on call kind of job) but this really helped frame it for me. I can’t leave my house 11:45, and I’m not early if I come 11:40.

amother

Alyssum

Mon, Mar 06 2023, 8:45 pm

The daycare I send to, I used to always aim to be there 10 minutes before dismissal, so that if something comes up, I should still be there on time. The problem was that each time I would arrive ny child was never ready. The teacher was always scrambling to give out shabbos party, gathering his projects ect. And even then my child wouldn't want to leave because after the kids are packed up, the morah reads a book. So I'm stuck there for 10 minutes feeling foolish and the morah is getting flustered. So now I come right on time, which works great most of the time, but there are times when I'm stuck because of an accident ect., and then I'm late. If it would be more organized, there wouldn't be this problem. BTW I'm a morah myself, and what I do is have a 15 minute dismissal where everyone is packed up and ready. So if I want everyone gone by 12, official dismissal is 11:45 - 12. Rarely do I have late parents.