Since this seems to be school talk week ... I have to vent about school zones ...

I appreciate them. What I do not understand is the hours they are in effect.

Our elementary school bell rings at 7:45 a.m. We have school zones from 6:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.

School zones are designed (obviously) to slow traffic during the chaotic time when parents are brining kids to school. This does not start an hour before school starts. It certainly does not extend to an hour after the bell rings. Why in the world do we have such a large window?

The hour before is understandable. You are forgetting the free breakfast that starts 45 minutes before the first bell.

The hour after the first bell is silly but wouldn't 30 minutes be reasonable?

GrowlTowel said:

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The hour before is understandable. You are forgetting the free breakfast that starts 45 minutes before the first bell.

The hour after the first bell is silly but wouldn't 30 minutes be reasonable?

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Do buses bring the kids to school 45 minutes early for the breakfast hour?

I am not sure why the hours would need to extend a minute after the last bell rings.

Harrison Bergeron said:

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GrowlTowel said:

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The hour before is understandable. You are forgetting the free breakfast that starts 45 minutes before the first bell.

The hour after the first bell is silly but wouldn't 30 minutes be reasonable?

---

Do buses bring the kids to school 45 minutes early for the breakfast hour?

I am not sure why the hours would need to extend a minute after the last bell rings.

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30 min seems reasonable to me to cover the crazy lates that shove the kid out of the car - even though they're supposed to sign their late kids in at our elementary schools.

EatMoreSalmon said:

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Harrison Bergeron said:

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GrowlTowel said:

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The hour before is understandable. You are forgetting the free breakfast that starts 45 minutes before the first bell.

The hour after the first bell is silly but wouldn't 30 minutes be reasonable?

---

Do buses bring the kids to school 45 minutes early for the breakfast hour?

I am not sure why the hours would need to extend a minute after the last bell rings.

---

30 min seems reasonable to me to cover the crazy lates that shove the kid out of the car - even though they're supposed to sign their late kids in at our elementary schools.

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But it goes back to the purpose of the school zones. Is the purpose to slow traffic down the chaotic time where 95% of the parents drop of their kids or to slow traffic anytime a child is present in a vehicle? Are they not really designed more for kids walking?

Harrison Bergeron said:

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EatMoreSalmon said:

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Harrison Bergeron said:

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GrowlTowel said:

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The hour before is understandable. You are forgetting the free breakfast that starts 45 minutes before the first bell.

The hour after the first bell is silly but wouldn't 30 minutes be reasonable?

---

Do buses bring the kids to school 45 minutes early for the breakfast hour?

I am not sure why the hours would need to extend a minute after the last bell rings.

---

30 min seems reasonable to me to cover the crazy lates that shove the kid out of the car - even though they're supposed to sign their late kids in at our elementary schools.

---

But it goes back to the purpose of the school zones. Is the purpose to slow traffic down the chaotic time where 95% of the parents drop of their kids or to slow traffic anytime a child is present in a vehicle? Are they not really designed more for kids walking?

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Depends on where they are. Not all schools have a good drop off area that keeps cars out of the street.

Some zones are really head scratchers. A good while back I was around one that made a street only one way during zone hours. Problem was you had to drive 100 feet into the street to get to the sign that told you it was temporarily one way.

EatMoreSalmon said:

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Harrison Bergeron said:

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EatMoreSalmon said:

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Harrison Bergeron said:

---

GrowlTowel said:

---

The hour before is understandable. You are forgetting the free breakfast that starts 45 minutes before the first bell.

The hour after the first bell is silly but wouldn't 30 minutes be reasonable?

---

Do buses bring the kids to school 45 minutes early for the breakfast hour?

I am not sure why the hours would need to extend a minute after the last bell rings.

---

30 min seems reasonable to me to cover the crazy lates that shove the kid out of the car - even though they're supposed to sign their late kids in at our elementary schools.

---

But it goes back to the purpose of the school zones. Is the purpose to slow traffic down the chaotic time where 95% of the parents drop of their kids or to slow traffic anytime a child is present in a vehicle? Are they not really designed more for kids walking?

---

Depends on where they are. Not all schools have a good drop off area that keeps cars out of the street.

Some zones are really head scratchers. A good while back I was around one that made a street only one way during zone hours. Problem was you had to drive 100 feet into the street to get to the sign that told you it was temporarily one way.

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That's my point. I get the purpose of the school zone during the chaos of drop off ... when kids are walking and there is so much traffic, and drop-offs can get backed up onto the streets. Makes total sense. But after the bell rings, none of this is a thing ... so why does the school zone need to extend beyond the bell ringing? I get it has to start before the bell rings, but an hour seems nuts. Why not 30 minutes? I drive by these school zones an hour before school starts and there is not a kid to be scene anywhere. It's like it is just a giveaway to traffic cops.

GrowlTowel said:

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The hour before is understandable. You are forgetting the free breakfast that starts 45 minutes before the first bell.

The hour after the first bell is silly but wouldn't 30 minutes be reasonable?

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This also has me thinking about school hours and time zones

Instead of changing our clocks we should be having school start later in the winter months (and work as well)

Possibly even have it ending earlier

School (and work) should be moving around the human biological clock. Not the other way around

Schools are busy that hour before and after.

Middle school football season starts Monday. Volleyball too. Drop-off is 630-645. Practice starts at 650. I know the football team has 60ish kids. Volleyball no idea, but with A,B,C teams, I'm guessing 30ish. Seasons run through end of October. Basketball kicks off in November and runs through February. Baseball, soccer and track go March through May in some kind of order.

That's not a high number of kids, but it only takes one idiot behind the wheel and one kid still waking up to create a bad situation. Around 430p you got the kid whose been in school since 8am trying to walk home and the guy in a hurry to get home from work.

Our high schools run 7:30-4:20 with a zero hour and then a seven period day. Kids coming and going all the time.

After school you have academic type clubs like theater, debate, DACA, etc.

They don't happen often, but field trips have kids out in front of the school in the 830-930 window.

Tardiness is a huge problem in k12 right now. It's probably only surpassed by absenteeism.

Theyre rebuilding four of the six middle schools in RISD right now. I live a half mile from one and its across the street from an elementary school. Between the semis, dump trucks, cars, buses, and walkers for 800+ kids plus construction workers, plus the elementary school needs, I hate my neighborhood right now and school is three days old.

Harrison Bergeron said:

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Since this seems to be school talk week ... I have to vent about school zones ...

I appreciate them. What I do not understand is the hours they are in effect.

Our elementary school bell rings at 7:45 a.m. We have school zones from 6:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.

School zones are designed (obviously) to slow traffic during the chaotic time when parents are brining kids to school. This does not start an hour before school starts. It certainly does not extend to an hour after the bell rings. Why in the world do we have such a large window?

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For elementary schools they don't make much sense an hour early or after.

As someone else explained, for middle and high school they do with practices, tutoring, band, UIL, etc. where kids are walking to and from school more than 30 minutes before or 30 after.

Of course they also used to be a bigger thing when more kids walked or rode bikes. I remember schools used to have multiple bike racks in front or by the student entrance doors. Now you might get a few kids that ride bikes and a handful of walkers.

Redbrickbear said:

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GrowlTowel said:

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The hour before is understandable. You are forgetting the free breakfast that starts 45 minutes before the first bell.

The hour after the first bell is silly but wouldn't 30 minutes be reasonable?

---

This also has me thinking about school hours and time zones

Instead of changing our clocks we should be having school start later in the winter months (and work as well)

Possibly even have it ending earlier

School (and work) should be moving around the human biological clock. Not the other way around

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Yes get rid of the changing clocks.

But the changing start times would only work if the jobs changed as well.

El Oso said:

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After school you have academic type clubs like theater, debate, DACA, etc.

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So all of this inconvenience is the immigrants' fault. I knew it.

Nice catch. My bad on acronym confusion. Or maybe a legit Freudian slip.

DECA