Texas school bans parents from picking up their children on foot from school for 'safety reasons' - and they face criminal charges if they try

  • The principal of Bear Branch Elementary School in Magnolia, Texas has banned parents from campus 
  • Students must take the bus to and from school or their parents can wait in a car line 
  • Parents say they have been threatened with criminal charges for walking their kids to school 
  • Several parents have since taken their kids out of school over the new rule 

By Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com

Published: 08:12 EST, 6 April 2016 | Updated: 15:49 EST, 6 April 2016

Parents are pulling their children out of a Texas elementary school over a new policy banning family members from campus. 

At the beginning of the academic year, Bear Branch Elementary School Principal Holly Ray instituted a new rule banning parents from stepping foot on campus. 

Parents now only have the options of having their children ride the bus or waiting in a mile-long car line to shuttle their kids to and from school.

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The principal of Bear Branch Elementary School has instituted a new policy, banning parents from walking their children to and from school 

The principal of Bear Branch Elementary School has instituted a new policy, banning parents from walking their children to and from school 

Those who have flouted the rules and accompanied their children to the campus say they have been threatened with criminal charges.

Private school teacher Wendy Jarman, who lives in a neighborhood by the school, says she used to walk her children to and from the educational institution.

She took her children out of the school on Monday, due to the new rule. 

Wendy Jarman (pictured) and Frank Young are two parents who have pulled their children out of the school over the policy
Wendy Jarman and Frank Young (pictured) are two parents who have pulled their children out of the school over the policy

Wendy Jarman (left) and Frank Young (right) are two parents who have pulled their children out of the school over the policy

Young says he was issued this 'trespass warning' when he dropped his children off at school in September

Young says he was issued this 'trespass warning' when he dropped his children off at school in September

'She's threatening to arrest people,' Jarman said of principal Ray in an interview with Fox 26 Houston. 

'This has happened to many parents. They have been cited. They have been threatened, if they step one foot on school property they will be arrested and charged with who knows what.' 

One of the parents who has been cited is Frank Young, who has also decided to pull his kids from the school. 

'Mrs Ray’s policy is implying that a parent doesn’t have the ability or capability to decide what is safest for her children and that the school district does,' Young said. 

Fox 26 reporters say they spoke with at least three other families who had recently switched their kids to different schools over the policy, but who did not want to appear on TV. 

Meanwhile, the school district has stood behind principal Ray. 

In a statement issued to the news station, the district says that the new policy was put in place in ensure safe dismissal for the students.   

 

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