Its “Back-to-School” time, and as a result, there will be more traffic around the school buildings. In the morning, students are usually driven to school and dropped off at various locations designated by the school and city officials. Most of the time, the drivers leave the area immediately. Add to that the fact some drivers have to drop off a student at one school and drive across town to drop off another student.

In the afternoon, a special situation arises which may cause a serious safety hazard. Most drivers try to arrive early and park as close to the school exits as possible so the student does not have far to walk. You can imagine the traffic problems that will be created when 50-100 vehicles try to pick-up students, all within the same 20-minute window.

The following tips, rules and regulations are published to assist the driver in safely discharging and picking-up students at the Foster City schools.

• White painted curbs mean no stopping, standing or parking for any purpose other than loading or unloading of passengers.
• In some situations, such as around Foster City Elementary School, there are further restrictions, such as no parking or unattended vehicles.
• Red painted curbs mean no stopping, standing or parking at any time.
• In order to maintain a safe environment for the students, it is important that vehicles stop with the right-hand wheels parallel and within 18” of the right-hand curb prior to the actual discharge or pick up of a student.
• Do not stop in the roadway since you will create a traffic hazard.
• At a time when there is a lot of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, making a u-turn is not advisable, and may even be illegal. Better to drive around the block or determine a different approach to the school.
• Many of the schools have restricted their parking lots as “no drop-off or pick-up” zones.
• Other schools have requested that drop-off and pick-up be done in the school parking lot. Please honor these restrictions and requests.
• If you have to contact a teacher or conduct business with the school office, do not park in the white zones.

The parking restrictions are strictly enforced around the schools to provide a safe and convenient location for the dropping off and picking up of students. Drivers who violate the parking restrictions may be subject to citation.

Check out our most commonly asked questions regarding rules of the road related to driving and parking around Foster City schools.  

If we all work together, we can make our schools a very safe area when bringing students to school and picking them up later in the day. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Police Department at 650/286-3300 for assistance.