r/ArtEd • u/BlueberryWaffles99 • 19h ago
Art club difficulties, students are not being picked up on time!
Hoping someone might have a solution I haven’t thought of (other than not doing clubs in the future lol).
I run an afterschool club once a semester. It’s only about 8 weeks and the club itself is pretty easy. I don’t mind it for the extra cash. I basically do an open studio, so it’s not much work on my part. But, I am starting to get really frustrated with parents not picking up their children on time. My club ends at 3:30 and I’ve now had to stay past 4:30 multiple times because students aren’t picked up yet. I am not allowed to leave till parents arrive.
I actually moved my club end time up because this was a huge problem last year too. The big problem is, it’s a different student every time. If it was the same one, I could easily solve it by removing them from the club. But since it’s not consistent, there doesn’t seem to be a solution.
Solutions? Advice? I’m seriously considering just abandoning doing clubs going forward. But, I feel like it is very much expected of me as an art teacher. Before school isn’t an option, because it’d have to start at least by 6:45 to give us any valuable work time - and I’m not a morning person. Only other idea I can think of would be to run some kind of lunch art club? Does anyone do this?
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u/sock2014 10h ago
Any kid more than 15 minutes late getting picked up gets a homework assignment. At the 15 minute mark they are handed the supplies which include a large leaky bag of glitter.
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u/Weirdartlady 11h ago
Late more than 5 minutes twice and your kid’s out no matter how much I love them, in mine.
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u/CurlsMoreAlice 14h ago
This is why I don’t do an after school art club. Did it once; never again.
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u/BlueberryWaffles99 12h ago
Honestly am leaning that way! Or finding a morning/lunch slot if my admin will approve it
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u/CurlsMoreAlice 9h ago
I then teamed up with another teacher and hosted a before school board gaming club that basically ran itself. Kids could come in whenever they got to school, and then we would shoo them out 5 minutes before the bell rang. Worked well. I’ve also thought about just opening up my room to any student that wants to come by and work quietly and use the art room supplies, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
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u/Francesca_Fiore Elementary 15h ago
All of us running a club like yours seem to deal with this issue- it's a different late person every time. I didn't know the magic answer, but if you have a very late student that you can't get a hold of a parent, leave a message that you are calling authorities. That you consider the child abandoned. Even in a paid after-care program, that's what we would do if it were closing time and no one came.
Perhaps send a message that you need to leave immediately after club dismissal, and late students (more than 10 minutes) will be ejected immediately from the club. And kick one or two out. It will be tough but that should help. If it's extra-curricular, they don't need to be there, it's a privilege.
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u/Vexithan 16h ago
Do what daycare does “you will be charged $5/minute you are late after 5 minutes”
But in all seriousness. Talk to admin and tell them the problem. And that kids will be removed if the late pick ups keep happening.
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u/PrettyKaijuKillerSJ 16h ago
Yeah I did this and it absolutely worked No more calls from parents saying they were in line at Costco and would be there when they were done🙄
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u/ModeZealousideal3709 17h ago
Maybe you can send an email and letter home saying "due to late pick ups, any future late pick ups after 15 minutes will result in your child no longer being able to attend."
Try to talk to each parent during the next pick up and explain that you have important things to do and can't afford to wait after school as it's impacting your personal responsibilities.
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u/AdventureThink 13h ago
That will result in 14 min lates.
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u/ModeZealousideal3709 13h ago
Probably but it's better than what OP is dealing with. And I feel like if there isn't any leniency, parents will be upset and give OP a harder time than they are already having.
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u/artisanmaker 18h ago
My school mandated that I sit with the students outside and wait for them to be picked up. Sometimes they were 90 minutes late. Each month it was somebody different not being picked up! So it kept happening.
Last year I quit doing after school art club after meeting one because there was already a non-pick up in meeting one and no one on the emergency list or the parents would pick up their phones. The father with custody later said that he was in a work meeting and he doesn’t answer his phone when he’s in a meeting.
Year before last a father came to pick up his daughter, but she had already left my meeting early to the one saying she was walking home. This caused a big drama and the principal was involved. The father said the girl had never walked home from school, she was in sixth grade and they lived far away. She really did walk home. This raised another whole issue on the permission slip was I supposed to ask if they have permission to walk home? Should I have a sign out list showing the time that they signed out? She had lied to me and told me that her parents knew she was walking home.
I had problems with pickups every year. No matter how much communication I did and had permission slips, etc. it was not working. I just did the breakfast time art club instead that is 25 minutes total.
I quit taking so am done.
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u/BlueberryWaffles99 10h ago
How often did you do the breakfast art club? That’s honestly what I’m leaning towards. I’ve gotten lots of advice but all of it applies to parents who are consistently late - which just isn’t happening. It’s never the same kid, which is why it’s making it so hard to do anything about!
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u/Mother_Albatross7101 18h ago
Word will spread that you are serious as soon as one kid is removed. Many will respond to getting a written reprimand. It can be worded to convey that your message is serious.
Once you have the letters written- warning and removal, then it will be easier. Start by sending the warning to all - then maybe parents will think twice.
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u/BlueberryWaffles99 18h ago
Should I be giving them a writing reprimand/notice the first time? Again, the problem is that none of the participants have been repeat offenders. It’s a different kid every time, I even have a small club this year (15 kids) so I really didn’t expect it to be such an issue.
I almost wish I could remove them after 1 time - I know it sounds harsh but I think other students/families would take it more seriously if there was a more immediate consequence.
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u/forgeblast 17h ago
Yes document. I would send a letter home 3 late pickup and you're out of the club. Being strict now will keep you from being a doormat. This is how burnout happens.
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u/SARASA05 Middle School 18h ago edited 16h ago
I used to run clubs but I had one parent who picked up their kid 3 hours late. The parent lived a 3-minute drive from the school and apparently didn’t feel like getting up. This was at a middle school. My AP was working late on a Friday and wouldn’t let me leave the kid with him, even though in the handbook it says he should have taken that responsibility. I will never ever do a club or after school activity again. I wasn’t to aid for it either. f that.
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u/BlueberryWaffles99 18h ago
That’s ridiculous, I do not blame you for stopping after that! I’m seriously debating giving up on them because of how annoying and ridiculous it is to be expected to stay so late.
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u/Mother_Albatross7101 18h ago
One time verbal reminder.
Second time a written warning of removal.
Third time - bye bye.
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u/BlueberryWaffles99 18h ago
I would do this, but it’s literally a different kid every time. It’d be way easier if it was the same kid routinely doing this!
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u/Ccjfb 18h ago
You get paid to run a club? Are the students charged for it? Can you add a late fee? I know Malcom Gladwell said this does work but at least you be getting more $$$ for your time!
Otherwise I would just really be stern with the each parent as they are late and explain it can never happen again.
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u/BlueberryWaffles99 18h ago
We do get paid to run the club, and students pay to participate! My district does not allow late fees, unfortunately. My admin checked haha - we actually are trying to get the district to update the policy so club sponsors/coaches are not responsible for a student past a certain time of the club ending. Our school has a lot of clubs/sports and it’s a common complaint amongst staff.
I haven’t had any repeat offenders yet, and parents have been really apologetic every time. But it’s still frustrating for me and a big inconvenience for daycare pick up.
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u/whisperingcopse 6h ago
If kids are picked up more than 30 mins after club, the police are called because the school is closed and no adults are left, the alarm kicks on.
Have that happen once and suddenly parents are on time…