White Oak’s New Dismissal Procedures

    A combined effort between WOES parents, faculty, staff and transportation officials is ongoing to alleviate traffic-flow problems during drop-off and dismissal times – in particular between 2:30 and 3:10 p.m.

    For several weeks this group of folks has researched, studied, surveyed, listened and dialoged with one major goal in mind: a dismissal procedure that is safe and smooth running.

 Below is a summary of how afternoon dismissal will be different.

• All bus riders will be escorted to the bus lot with grades three, four and five loading first. Grades kindergarten, first and second will load after the upper elementary students are on board and seated. There will be two bells to facilitate this dismissal/loading procedure.

• Once buses have exited the parking lot, (at approximately 3 p.m.) car riders will be dismissed in a purposeful and orderly fashion from one location: the cafeteria. Teacher(s) will escort car riders from classrooms to the cafeteria.  Each student will sit in a supervised grade-level designated area and wait to be called to his/her parent/guardian’s vehicle.

• Vehicles waiting to pick-up children must remain in the carpool lane with drivers in place. Drivers will identify themselves by the use of visor/dashboard card(s) with each child’s name and grade level clearly visible. A member of the school staff will approach the vehicle and upon seeing the visor/dashboard card, will radio into the cafeteria for that child to “ready-up.”  Staff members on duty in the cafeteria will locate the respective children and have them standby just inside the cafeteria door.

• When a vehicle reaches the loading area, a second staff member working outside will radio inside for the child whose name appears on the visor/dashboard card. That child will proceed to a particular loading point; the staff member on duty at that loading point will assist each child into the correct vehicle.

• Your child should have ONE regular way to travel home. Occasional changes in transportation (for any given day) may be accommodated by school staff if a note is sent to the child’s teacher in advance.  Persons transporting your child must have your visor/dashboard card in their vehicle. The school will no longer accept telephone calls regarding transportation changes. We must receive the information in writing, in advance. This pertains to bus riders as well as carpoolers. Again, this is a safety concern.  Please plan ahead and communicate with us in writing to assure your child’s transportation needs are met. Emergencies should be directed to the principals.

    We insist that parents NOT park and walk to the school building in order to escort their child back to their vehicle, but rather they participate in the dismissal procedure described above.  This plan allows us to load and move out three vehicles at a time without the interference of pedestrian or other vehicular traffic. In the event you are in the school building during dismissal and your child is to ride home with you, you may pick up your child from the cafeteria once all car riders in the carpool lane have been dismissed and the carpool lane is free of traffic.

    Please know your child is supervised from the moment school begins until we escort him/her to the bus or your vehicle to go home. There will be checks and re-checks to insure your child is picked up by an authorized person. The school will provide each student with four blank visor/dashboard cards that should be completed (back and front) by the parent. It is the family’s responsibility to make sure that the vehicle in which the child is to ride home has a visor/dashboard card. This is considered a formal school identification card. If a driver shows up without this information, he/she will be asked to pull aside and go into the office. Once we have cleared the carpool lane, we will verify identification of those drivers not in possession of a visor/dashboard card and dismiss children to them if appropriate after all other dismissals are completed.

    Folks who attempt to avoid the new procedures by checking their children out from school early should know they run the risk of unexcused absences for their children. Unless a doctor’s note can be provided the following morning, the instructional time missed will be logged as unexcused and will be monitored according to school absentee procedures.  [With regard to unexcused absences and carpooling, morning drivers should plan for potential traffic slowdowns. Students must be in the classroom by 8:00 a.m. Morning tardies are monitored according to policy and when arriving late, parents must come inside to sign in their children.]