The rules of the school carpool line
The rules of the school carpool line
Plus: Top news of the week — Elon applies for a Charlotte law school — Incumbent city council members dominate primary — Truist plans cuts — Arts festival opens across Charlotte
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Patience, prudence and a Ph.D. in protocol are the only way you and your kids are surviving the school carpool line unscathed. Here are the guidelines we drive by – and some cautionary tales from the battle-bruised.
NOBODY'S GOT TIME FOR THAT: Get your morning goodbye kisses out of the way before you hop in the car for school, because drop-offs should be "like a SWAT drill — backpacks on, ready to go, and everyone out in seconds," one Charlotte mom said.
by Cristina Bolling
It’s September, so it’s that time of year — the leaves are starting to change, pumpkin everything is back on the shelves, and twice a day, five days a week, massive amounts of exhaust rise up from parking lots at schools across Charlotte.
The carpool lines are back.
Carpool line frustration is hardly a new phenomenon, but in the interest of making our city a more civil, congenial place to live, work and play, we’ve crowdsourced the topic and are sharing a few guidelines to smooth out the process of dropping off and picking up your young scholars.
So let’s get right to the best tips and tricks for the next time you find yourself in a snaking steel conga line in front of campus:
🚗 If you’re a newbie, be like an Eagle Scout and study the maps. You wouldn’t plan a climbing trip to the Himalayas without studying your route first, and neither should you consider going through a busy school’s drop-off or pickup without getting some instructions from the school or veteran parents. (Many schools have maps about how to drop off and pick up, or even video instructions on their web pages.)
The traffic patterns you’re required to adhere to at some schools can be terrifying if you don’t know them in advance — some prohibit you from approaching the school from a certain direction, or require you to turn right or turn left as you exit the school based on what pickup line you’re in. (Yes, it’s a lot.)
One parent told us that a certain south Charlotte elementary school actually demands that parents to take a class on how to drive the carpool line before they can use it. (One last note on this topic: Please don’t send the grandparents to do pickup without training them first. They’ll only get more gray hair.)
🚗 Maintain consciousness. No, seriously. It seems like the most basic requirement, but it’s shocking how many parents have tales of seeing their sleep-deprived brethren lapse into dreamland while waiting for the dismissal bell. (No one actually admits doing it themselves, of course.)
“A man fell asleep in line and people were just passing him to get to their kids. A mom in front of me asked me if she should knock on his window, as she was worried he was dead or unconscious, since so many had been honking,” recalls Fort Mill mom Jen Wetzel. “She knocked on the window, and he thankfully was just really asleep.”
On a similar note, Michele Falla’s husband, Christian, was in carpool line one day when the car behind him hit his car. The lady who bumped him admitted she’d taken too much cold medicine and “was out of it.” Yikes.
🚗 Do not pretend that you (or your friends) are the king or queen of the universe. We know Ledger readers aren’t the types who would ever do these kinds of things, so we are preaching to the choir here, but people who try to circumvent the system to pick up their kids quicker are rude and wrongly think their time is the most valuable. Plain and simple.
Some examples: When Nicole Backerman’s now-high schoolers were elementary schoolers in Pennsylvania, there were parents who would try to drive around the carpool line to park and then walk to the front of the school to get their kids at dismissal time (which was not allowed), and then expect someone to let them back in the line to leave. “Besides the danger, why these parents think their time is more important than all the other parents’ time who are following the rules is beyond me,” she vented.
And get this: mom-of-three Maria Rachal said she’d sometimes see “a person who would come early and leave a ‘parking chair’ behind her car so that her friend could pull into a spot in the front row.” Clever, but rude.
🚗 It pays to learn the time economics of your carpool line. Here’s where there is no one-size-fits-all guidance, because every school has a different system — and speed — for how they do drop-off and dismissal. But before you commit to spending 30 minutes parked in your car waiting to be the first to drop off when the doors open, or 2 hours to be first in line in the afternoon, observe how long it takes to pull through the line at different points of the drop-off and pickup period.
Some schools’ lines move so fast, parents are through in 15 minutes or less, even at the peak time. But especially for schools that dismiss in the late afternoon, parents sometimes have to be among the first in line if there is any hope of getting a child to an afterschool activity on time or picking up a sibling at another school that lets out at a similar hour.
Ledger writer Michelle Crouch used to make her minivan a mobile office on swim practice days when her kids were younger. Practice started at 5 p.m. across town, but school didn’t dismiss until 4:15 p.m., so if she wasn’t in line by 2:30 or 2:45, getting to the pool on time was a no-go. “And there were people who got there before me!” she said.
Mom Allison Parker wonders how other early birds spend their time. “Do they leave the car running for AC in the summer or heat in the winter? Do they read? Do crafts? Talk on the phone? Does anyone ever get out to do exercise?”
(As an occasional carpool line-user myself, I recommend opening the windows and killing the engine unless the weather is extreme, to save both gas and the environment.)
🚗 Don’t be a jerk — or a weirdo — to neighbors who live in the houses around the school. Most schools have rules against evading carpool lines by parking in neighborhoods surrounding the school and having kids walk to or from school. But inevitably, people do it anyway, which leads to hassles for residents who just want to live their lives without their cars being trapped in their driveways or their streets looking like the parking lot of PNC Music Pavilion on a Friday night.
Deborah Goldberg, who lives within blocks of Carmel Middle School, recalls a dad “who got belligerent with me because I asked him not to block my driveway while he waited to pick up his kid in front of my house, instead of using the carpool line.” It’d get so bad that during school pickup time, she’d have to walk her preschool daughter several blocks to meet a friend who drove her to dance.
And then there are the quizzical stories. Goldberg said one of her neighbors told her about a time she looked out her window to see a mom sunbathing on her lawn — “just a random parent that she did not know, who had parked there on a side street to wait for Carmel to let out and wanted to take advantage of the time to work on her tan.”
🚗 And lastly — keep your eyes on the school staff — not your cellphone. Ardrey Kell parents got a robo-call last school year begging them not to text in the carpool line, because a parent had rammed into a member of the school’s staff while distracted by a cellphone. Unacceptable, right?
On this, we can probably all agree — the only thing worse than driving the carpool line would be directing the carpool line.
Cristina Bolling is managing editor of the Charlotte Ledger and has a deep history of requiring her three kids to take the bus so she can avoid the carpool line whenever humanly possible. She’d love to hear your carpool line stories: cristina@cltledger.com
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This week in Charlotte: Elon University envisions Charlotte law school campus, incumbents win low-turnout city election, transit authority gains momentum, Truist to make cuts, cash spills on Sunset Road
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
Elon applies for Charlotte law school: Elon University has applied to the American Bar Association to establish a law school campus in Charlotte, Business North Carolina reported. The Charlotte Business Journal reported that the school seems to be eyeing a site at 330 W. Tremont Ave. in South End.
Court declines to accelerate lawsuit against Charlotte Latin: The N.C. Supreme Court denied a request by a couple that is suing Charlotte Latin School to expedite their case, in which they say the school improperly kicked out their two children after the dad had a testy argument with the head of school. (N.C. Tribune)
Politics
City elections: Incumbent City Council members dominated in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election, with 9 sitting council members facing no opposition or being strongly favored in November’s general election. Less than 5% of eligible voters cast ballots. (Ledger and others)
Transit authority on the way? Local political leaders are warming to the idea of establishing a regional transit authority, which could make coordinated instead of piecemeal decisions on buses and light rail. (Transit Time)
Democrat joins governor race: Former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor, setting up a primary battle against state Attorney General Josh Stein. (WCNC)
Local news
A crash spills cash: An armored truck carrying bags of cash crashed on Sunset Road near I-77 on Thursday, and bystanders grabbed more than $100,000 of the money that fell out, police said. Queen City Nerve editor Ryan Pitkin wrote on X (Twitter): “One witness told me they saw folks running in different directions hugging bundles of money.”
Another UNC lockdown: UNC Chapel Hill went into a lockdown for the second time in about two weeks, after police said a man flashed a gun Wednesday at a bagel place in the student union. Police arrested a suspect, and nobody was injured. (UNC Chapel Hill)
Business
Truist cuts ahead: Charlotte-based Truist Financial Corp. plans “sizable” job cuts and a consolidation of its leadership team as it seeks to lower costs through the first quarter of 2024. (WSOC/Biz Journal)
Northlake Mall sues retailers: The operator of Northlake Mall is suing American Eagle, Chico’s, Michael Kors, Soma and White House Black Market, saying the retailers violated their lease agreements by closing their locations at the mall this year. American Eagle said in court documents that it broke its lease because the mall was “reminiscent of a warzone.” (WSOC)
Good reads
The day that changed a season: Alexis Sims, the girlfriend of Charlotte FC soccer player Anton Walkes, recounts the day of Walkes' tragic accident and shares her emotional journey in coping with his loss while caring for their daughter, Ayla. (Futbol Friday)
Why the low turnout, Part I: With under 5% of eligible voters casting ballots in this week’s primary election in Charlotte, writer Jeremy Markovich examines the history of why North Carolina’s cities and towns ask residents to vote in odd-numbered years, when there’s typically nothing else on the ballot. (N.C. Rabbit Hole)
Why the low turnout, Part II: WFAE’s Steve Harrison examined voter turnout in the county’s largest cities and found that Charlotte is 50th out of 50 in voter participation. Can anything be done about it? (WFAE)
From the Ledger family of newsletters
‘Seinfeld’ apartments: Doug Levin and Gateway Communities NC named two Charlotte apartment complexes after references in the sitcom “Seinfeld,” offering a lighthearted touch to the world of real estate development in a city where finding available street names is becoming increasingly challenging.
2 council races turn spicy: During Charlotte’s Democratic primary election this week, some drama unfolded in District 3 (Steele Creek) between Warren Turner and Tiawana Brown, and in District 4 (University City) between incumbent Renee Johnson and Wil Russell, who was endorsed by Major Vi Lyles.
Wednesday (🔒)
The rules for hiring a diverse workforce: Following a recent Supreme Court case on college admissions and race, Charlotte employment lawyers advise companies to prioritize expanding applicant pools through diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives without using race or gender as a “plus factor,” while also avoiding quotas to prevent potential “reverse discrimination” lawsuits.
‘Slow-going’ Brooklyn Village project: Developer Monte Ritchey of The Conformity Corp. acknowledged that the Brooklyn Village project in Charlotte’s Second Ward is progressing slower than he’d like and that the project might face challenges in the commitment to build 1.5 million s.f. of office space due to uncertainty in the office sector.
Charlotte International Arts Festival: The Charlotte International Arts Festival started Friday, featuring a diverse array of live performances, art installations and cultural celebrations across uptown and Ballantyne.
🎧 New podcast: The newest episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast features a conversation with Lynda Bouchard, the founder of Booking Authors Ink, who talks about the importance of collaborative storytelling in book marketing and how she devises creative marketing ideas.
Friday (🔒)
Why doesn’t Mecklenburg have a county fair? Despite its 130-year history of county fairs, Mecklenburg County no longer has one, largely due to the decline in the region’s agricultural scene from urbanization and farmland loss, and the lack of interest in the county fair when it closed in 1987.
Tide Cleaners expands to Charlotte: Tide Cleaners, affiliated with Procter & Gamble’s Tide brand, has expanded its presence in the Charlotte dry cleaning market with seven locations in the area.
Sports Connections buys tennis and pickleball center: Sports Connection, the owner of Pickleball Charlotte, is expanding its portfolio with Charlotte Tennis and Pickleball on Sharon Lakes Road. Plans include upgrading the facility by early 2024 and increasing the total number of pickleball courts to 60, including 43 indoor courts.
Charlotte’s fentanyl crisis: The opioid epidemic in Charlotte has reached critical levels, with both children and adults at risk, and the use of lifesaving Narcan is on the rise.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman, BC Creative