Do we as homeschoolers have the legal right to use the public school playground during school hours?

Question

My son attended grades 1&2 at this school. This is our first year of homeschooling but he does still take speech therapy at the school every other day. Do they have the right to tell us to leave the playground?

Answer 1

Most schools have policies prohibiting visitors during school hours.  Since your son has speech therapy you might be able to work something out if you are polite and respectful and you go in to the office humbly asking permission instead of demanding.  For instance, if speech therapy ends close to a recess time, you might ask at the office if your son could please be allowed to go out and play with the other children at recess.  However, if it is not at a recess time, the school may not want the inmates--uh I mean students of the school to look out of the window and see your son playing.  That would be a distraction.

Ultimately, what happens on school grounds during school hours is up to the school though, not you.

Answer 2

If the school isn't good enough for your son to attend as a regular student, why would you want to use its facilities?  Also, I am sure it's a legal issue.  Your son is not a student there.

Answer 3

Yes they do.

If your child is not on the roll, then they cant be accounted for.

Also it could be an insurance issue .......if your child is not on the roll and falls of the equipment and breaks something, then the school cant be liable as your child does not attend the school.

Also in emergency situations, the school has to protects its students, and has no legal right to protect others, so its your own child you are putting at risk by letting them play there.

Answer 4

I dont think they do. First off, he goes there anyway. Secondly, if you pay tax dollars in that town, you have access to it. But, you might want to ask a lawyer before someone tries something stupid, like suing you.

Answer 5

In our town, no one is allowed on school grounds (including the playground) during school hours without first checking in with the school office. And even then, you have to have a good reason to be there. It is a safety matter for the children who are enrolled there, so that not just anyone can walk onto school grounds and do whatever they want. Granted, there are some people who would go there with no harm intended, but this policy protects against the ones that might go there to inflict harm on anyone.

AFTER school hours, many people use the playgrounds at the schools. There doesn't seem to be any policies against that here. But we are in a small town where people don't normally resort to lawsuits at the first little incident, so that might make a difference too. I would think in bigger areas where people are more likely to sue the school over injuries on their playground, there would be stricter policies in place to guard themselves against legal action.

Answer 6

It depends on if the school owns the playground, or if the city does. There is a preschool in my town that has an open-to-the-public play ground, because the entire fascility is owned by Parks and Recreation of our city.

Primary schools usually own their playgrounds, and can't open them to the public because of safety reasons. Parents who send their kids to public schools want to know that they are safe when they are outside playing. If anyone can come onto the grounds whenever they please then they run the risk of kidnappings, drugs finding their way onto school grounds, and other serious matters.

You don't have a legal right to be there, but there's no reason why you can't ask the school administrators if you can let your son play there after his speach therapy. If they know you, and know that you'll be there, they shouldn't have a problem with it. If anything they may just ask that you don't play there while students are having PE or recess, or that if a class is taking place outside that you keep from disrupting it. It shouldn't be a problem.

Answer 7

I would say that the school does have the right to tell you to leave the playground. If it's owned by the school, you don't have the right to just be on their property whenever you wish--outside or in. Some might say, "But our tax dollars pay for it." Well, our tax dollars pay for city hall and government buildings and all kinds of other places, it doesn't mean we have the right to be on the property whenever we wish.

Since your son is there for speech therapy, just stop in at the office afterwards and ask them if it's okay for you to play out there for a while after his sessions. They may be totally fine with it; in which case, they still need to know, even if just for the security of the kids there, just who is on school property.

I don't know about where you live, but a lot of our schools here don't have their own playgrounds--they are actually community playgrounds put there by the community league, which means they ARE open to everyone. Out of respect for the teachers trying to keep an eye on the kids there, we don't go during recess times but do go at other times.

Answer 8

Legally... that's finicky enough you'd probably do best to ask a lawyer.  I'd tend to say no legal leg to stand on if he's not a student (could be considered trespassing), but if he does do speech therapy there, that might be enough of a loophole.  A lawyer would know better.

I can see the school's point of view though: liability issues, both for him/you (that someone they are not responsible for is using their facilities), and security issues for the children they ARE responsible for; I'm sure they don't want anyone not employed at or attending the school near the children.  If they make allowances for you, that could open the door for, say, pedophiles to have access also.  An extreme example, perhaps, but that's what people do when they find a loophole made even for a good reason for someone else -- abuse it.  So, it's far safer for businesses -- especially dealing with children -- to not have loopholes.

Answer 9

Yes

Unless the school system offically allows parttime student vists. Yes.