A parent's guide to student conduct

Jan 13, 2005 11:12 AM

protecting your child in school

Parents, especially of young children, can take some simple but important steps to ensure their children’s safety at school:

• Be sure the school can contact you. When you enrolled your child, you should have filled out an emergency information card. This tells the school how to reach you if there is a problem during the day. Keep this information up to date. It’s a good idea to have back-up telephone numbers — those of a relative or neighbor — in case you can’t be reached at the first number.
• Tell the school if your child’s regular routine changes. If your child normally travels by school bus and is instead traveling to school by some other means, let the school know in advance. This will avoid unnecessary concern and, possibly, a search for what appears to be a missing child.
• Don’t drop your children off at school too early. Before the school opens its doors, there may be no one there to supervise and care for children. A child left alone is a potential target. Check with the principal to find out at what time someone is supervising children before the start of school.
• Notify the school in writing if someone new is picking up your child after school. For your child’s safety, schools refuse to allow an unauthorized person to pick up your child when school ends.
• Tell anyone picking up your child after school to be on time. For their own safety, children left behind at school for any length of time may be taken to the nearest police station.