Parents Camp Out To Register Kids At Saddle Ridge [Commentary]

I thought it was 2016, but maybe I am mistaken. I'm not sure if overnight camping at a local school is a part of the "initiation" process for parents, but I would like to know.

This is the week that parents had to register their young off spring for kindergarten at Saddle Ride Elementary, on the east side of town. Registration began on Tuesday morning of this week.

Parents are always sacrificing for their children, but I think in this instance, it was beyond ridiculous.

Laramie County School District 1 has a policy that the parents must show up to the school in person, with proper documentation to enroll their child in a new school. Understandably, this is to avoid parents enrolling their children into a school in an area that they do not live in.

So, Monday evening, parents found themselves literally "camped out", all night, by the front door of the school to ensure their child would be enrolled at Saddle Ridge, a school close to their neighborhood.

As understood, registration is based on first come, first served basis. So as to not have their child bused across town, in order to be first in line come Tuesday morning, they had to camp out in front of the school.

One parent said that at about 11 p.m. Monday night, someone employed by Saddle Ridge was nice enough to unlock the door so that mom and dad could use the potty. How generous is that? It's obvious this person was "down for the struggle."

I think it's absolutely ridiculous that parents, who probably needed to be at work the next day, had to camp out and sleep in front of the door to ensure enrollment in a school that opened at capacity to begin with.

When Saddle Ridge opened, they left no room for growth. Now, the developer is looking at building about 1428 more houses within the next 3 years and the state doesn't have much of a budget to give for the building of more schools.

However, I digress.

Now that I have whined, let's offer a solution to where mom and dad can sleep in their own bed at night, instead of camped out on the door step of an elementary school, to avoid their child from being bused across town.

Why doesn't Laramie County School District 1 use the technology of 2016? Why couldn't parents fax or mail in the required paper work and follow-up sometime during the week of enrollment, in person?

What I am suggesting is that if the parents emailed or faxed in the application and documents, they are date stamped when the fax or email is received. The school administrators could then place them in the order received.

The parents would be required to go into the school, during normal business hours, and present them the applications and documents to match that which they emailed or faxed, as proof that the name on the app is indeed their child for verification.

This isn't rocket science folks! I can appreciate the parents sacrificing for their kids, something many already do.

All I am saying is, that in 2016, parents should be home with their children, instead of weathering the elements in Cheyenne, just to register their children in a public school.