Parents' frustration as Hemel Hempstead primary school introduces fee for late pickup

Parents from a Hemel Hempstead primary school say that a late fee for picking up children late is not fair.

A parent from Micklem Primary School, who wished to remain anonymous, has been charged £15 for picking up their child late from school.

But they say they were late due to reasons out of their control – delayed buses.

The parent said: “I have a screen capture of the bus being cancelled multiple times. It does not help the situation and is not fair. They charge a flat fee, no matter how many minutes I'm late.”

A spokesperson from the school said: “As an inclusive and happy school community we rely on our parents and carers being able to bring children to school on time and collect them promptly at the end of the school day.

“Whilst we would never discuss the circumstances of any individual child or family we do have empathy with families who find logistics around school times difficult and we do offer support on the usually very rare occasions when this happens.”

They continued: “We are lucky enough to have the facilities to offer a regular after-school club to help those families who want wraparound care, this too is an optional, paid-for service with specific terms and times of operation.

“Any fines that are incurred are not designed to be punitive, but instead cover the additional cost of staffing numbers, heating and lighting for any care provided outside of the agreed times.”

As of October 31, Micklem Primary School automatically sends children to its after-school club if they are waiting to be collected.

A letter notifying the parents of the new rule said: "The daily emergency fee for our after-school club is £15.00. We would still expect you to collect your child as soon as you are able to, despite them being in our wraparound care.”

It added: "The after-school club session closes promptly at 17:15 and if you fail to collect your child before this time, you will be charged an additional £15.00 late fee.”

The school said that it understands that there are exceptional circumstances and those with a reason for being late on a single occasion can speak with headteacher Mr Swift.