Parents Angered By Fee For Dropping Kids at School Early

A Qld state primary school has told parents they will have to pay to drop their children off before 8.30am.

The move sparked concerns from working parents with children at Burrowes State School in Third Ave, Marsden in Logan.

In an email to parents last week, new school principal Kristine Sleeth Lemon said on-site before school care would cost upwards of $2.60 per child, shares Courier Mail.

The email said it would “be offered by KDK at a very small price for parents who work or have appointments and need to have their children cared for — they also feed your child/children breakfast within the cost. Prices starting from $2.60 per child.”

The school told parents the new opening time of 8.30am would be patrolled from Term 4, which starts on Monday, October 8.

The email, sent to parents on September 3, said the change was for the safety of students on school grounds and followed similar rules in nearby schools which had “recorded reduced incidents of behaviour” before school as a result.

Education Queensland said principals, in consultation with the school community, made the decision.

“If parents have concerns about issues at their children’s school, they are encouraged to speak directly to the principal,” the department said.

Do you think this is fair?

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20 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 05 Nov 2022
    8:46 am
Fair enough. Its not a babysitting service.

- - mom101628 said
  - 28 Dec 2018
    5:05 pm
A very reasonable fee till you multiply it by 5 – $13 a week for one child is a bit of an impost for most working people. Let’s face it, if you are working it’s because you need the money – otherwise you’d stay at home and look after your child yourself.

- - mom7108 said
  - 17 Nov 2018
    2:51 pm
Very cheap for ‘before school care’! I think it is important for parents to realise the school is not supervised before a certain time and that means the school can’t keep the kids safe

- - mom74005 said
  - 12 Nov 2018
    2:08 pm
It makes sense that it would reduce behavioral issues but it makes it much harder for working parents. its rather counter intuitive.

- - mom81879 said
  - 01 Nov 2018
    1:14 pm
Absolutely! I’m sure these parents would be quick to complain if no one was there to supervise their kids. $2.60 for childcare and breakfast is cheap as!

- - becstalou said
  - 06 Oct 2018
    3:23 pm
Definitely fair someone needs to look after the kids and they have to be there early. Also good idea to make sure the kids are getting breakfast.

- - tessie said
  - 16 Sep 2018
    10:59 am
We live in the country and kids were always dropped off at 8:30 and no fees charged. Mind you it is a smaller school and the kids are safe. I wouldn’t want to be charged that amount if I dropped my kids off 5 or 10 minutes early. It’s good to know that the kids are given a breakfast which comes out of the cost though.

- - mom93821 said
  - 13 Sep 2018
    2:41 pm
Is this before school care? Before and after school care is always paid.

- - ashna9 said
  - 12 Sep 2018
    8:11 pm
Every oshc charges a fee don’t they? Teachers can’t be expected to babysit kids before school?

- - sars_angelchik said
  - 12 Sep 2018
    10:55 am
If they are supplying breakfast that is a bit different as that is proper care but I drop my daughter off at 8.25 and I would be pretty angry if they tried to charge me anything extra.

- - littlehandsofmine said
  - 12 Sep 2018
    9:54 am
I suppose rules are rules…

- - rovermum said
  - 12 Sep 2018
    9:54 am
Absolutely. Schools have responsibility to educate children, not baby sit them. It’s a small fee.

- - BellaB said
  - 11 Sep 2018
    6:00 pm
I think it’s fair, and that’s a remarkably low cost.

- - Blossom said
  - 11 Sep 2018
    10:09 am
If the school is feeding the child that is very cheap. They may not even be covering the cost of the food and drinks your child is given. I know after hours school care costs more than that. They are given supervised activities in that fee.
However I know of parents who drop their child off at school early if they have to go to more than one school. Zoning for primary schools is not the same as High Schools and they can be quite a few km apart. You also have to be able to get parking within a reasonable distance of the schools. In bad weather you don’t want a 5 minute walk from your car to the classroom, especially if you have a young baby in a stroller as well……At some schools pupils in reception and year 1 have to be collected from the classroom for safety/custody reasons.

- - curlytops said
  - 11 Sep 2018
    8:33 am
Sour school does it and also if you are late picking up they put the children in after school care.

- - Ellen said
  - 11 Sep 2018
    7:51 am
Supervision is often only present from 8.30am. If you want to have your child supervised before that time, you should put your child in before school care indeed. If the parents are happy to have their kids unsupervised before 8.30am, even when something happens on the school ground, then it is their choice and the school is not responsible.

- - MuthaNita said
  - 10 Sep 2018
    10:17 pm
If you’re dropping your child off more than half an hour before the bell rings then they should be paying for before school care. School is not meant to be a babysitter for parents, teachers use their mornings to set up classes and lesson plans for the day, have meetings etc not supervise kids way before the bell even rings. Where is these parents concern for their child’s safety,what if they fell on their own and really hurt themselves? What if there as a stranger approaching them on the grounds?

- - mom265671 said
  - 10 Sep 2018
    4:17 pm
Per day? That’s can be very costly for families who don’t have much left in the wallet to spend.

- - mom114371 said
  - 10 Sep 2018
    10:53 am
My question is when does school start? E.g the bell ring for classes to start. If their are parents dropping their kids of extremely early then it probably isn’t unreasonable.
- Amanda Holland replied
  
  11 Sep 2018 , 9:08 am
  I think it’s fair. But most schools don’t offer before or after school care. With the school my youngest will be going to next year they don’t have this available due to, 1. It’s only a very small school of just over 100 2. They don’t have enough interest for it to run.
  I’m hoping to return to full time work next year, so I’m just going to have to work around it and find an alternative