I recently read a story from Fox 26 Houston that has me concerned as the parent of a child in Texas.  

A school in North Houston is really upsetting some people with it’s new policy regarding picking up children late. Herrera Elementary School is charging $1 per minute to the parents when arriving after the allotted pickup time. If your child is in daycare or an after-school program these kinds of fees are common, but it’s almost unheard of for a regular school to implement these penalties. 

One parent, Lydia Alaniz, was surprised to find out that she would be receiving a late fee if her child or nephew were picked up late. The policy states that students get out of school at 3 p.m., and that the $1 per minute fee would begin after 3:30 p.m. For Lydia, picking up the two children 25 minutes late would incur a fee of $50. 

As Lydia Alaniz points out, “Even if you’re there on time, the pickup line makes it nearly impossible to get your kids before 3:30 p.m.” She was able to show Fox 26 Houston another payment notice from August where she was charged $24 for a similar situation. 

The money that is collected from the fees is used to pay the front office staff that watch after the kids during the after-school hours. As he puts it, the school apparently doesn’t have overtime pay in the school budget for the staff that has to monitor the children being picked up late. 

When she questioned the principal about the fees, she was told the money goes toward paying front office staff who supervise children after hours. “It’s not in their school budget to pay for extra time,” Alaniz recalled. 

My child is in a daycare program at the YMCA which is open until 6 p.m. Since my wife and I are both working it would be quite difficult for either one of us to pick up our child, Billie, before 3 p.m. I’m not sure what age Billie will become a turnkey kid, but I do know that we wouldn’t be able to afford $150 a day until it happens. 

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