Child is Enrolled at Two Preschools

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Minnesota

Hello,

This is my first time here so I hope I am doing this correctly....

My husband and I have been seperated for the past year and during this time we have come up against many issues so after trying out the lawyer thing and realizing that was not much of a help I have decided to try this out. I am in desperate need of help as this entire process has been such a drain on both my daughter and myself and those around us. My queastion today is that we have both agreed to send our daughter (who is four) to a certain preschool/school. This school is verygood and in the town where we both lived and my daughter has grown up. She has been very excited about starting there and we finally went last night. After telling my husband he had a fit and was swearing at me telling me I was not being fair. I had told him that this was coming up and tried to include him but he said "we have all summer to discuss."

We went last night and she had a blast was such a positive experience and she is so excited. We have even been attending early childhood education classes there. He tells me today that she will not be going there as we both work in a town near by and said she will be going there instead and he was going to register her there tonight. Can he do that? We have joint custody...

When my husband and I could not agree on pre-school, I had to file a motion to have the judge decide. My child had to attend 2 preschools (one week at one, one week at the other) while we waited for a ruling. In our case, the choice of pre-school impacted the entire choice of school system for my daughter as well. I am not sure if just pre-school would qualify as a joint legal custody agreement because it is not technically "school", but if you have joint physical as well and can't reach an agreement, I would guess you'll have to file a motion.

If you mean joint physical custody, he can take the child to a different preschool on his visitation days.

You can take the child to the childcare facility you choose on your days

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Quoting Amie21

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My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Minnesota

Hello,

This is my first time here so I hope I am doing this correctly....

My husband and I have been seperated for the past year and during this time we have come up against many issues so after trying out the lawyer thing and realizing that was not much of a help I have decided to try this out. I am in desperate need of help as this entire process has been such a drain on both my daughter and myself and those around us. My queastion today is that we have both agreed to send our daughter (who is four) to a certain preschool/school. This school is verygood and in the town where we both lived and my daughter has grown up. She has been very excited about starting there and we finally went last night. After telling my husband he had a fit and was swearing at me telling me I was not being fair. I had told him that this was coming up and tried to include him but he said "we have all summer to discuss."

We went last night and she had a blast was such a positive experience and she is so excited. We have even been attending early childhood education classes there. He tells me today that she will not be going there as we both work in a town near by and said she will be going there instead and he was going to register her there tonight. Can he do that? We have joint custody...

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Since its preschool, and not daycare, neither one of you can enroll the child in a preschool without the other's blessing. If you cannot agree on a preschool, then you have to take it to court for a judge to decide. If fairness is an issue, then a preschool needs to be selected that is equally convenient for both of you. I suspect that the preschool you want is not convenient for dad. Am I right?

However, if dad previously agreed to this preschool and is now backing out, a judge might rule in your favor. So...either agree to something equally convenient for both of you, or take it to court now if you want to be sure its decided before its time for the fall semester to start.

As the other responses demonstrate, there is debate as to whether preschool is technically "school" or "daycare". If you consider preschool "school" then it falls under legal custody and both parents (with joint legal custody) must consent or have the court decide. If you consider preschool "daycare", then you can send two seperate places or send without consent. If you have joint physical custody, consider preschool "not school" and you want your child in one preschool (and dad disagrees) you can (1) each send to different schools on your own times or (2) file a motion for third party to decide which preschool the child will attend. If you consider preschool the beginning of the official school record and you have joint legal custody, you must agree or have a court decide.

I think you both need to sit down, talk, and think of what is best for the child.....

Most daycares have a preschool program, so it would be difficult to separate the definitions since the child is 4 years old. Many daycares offer curriculum based programs (yes, even in the one-year old rooms). I used to do this as a career (a few years ago), and yes, I have made out curriculum for one-year olds. The point is...preschool, daycare, and childcare can all be synonymous now-a-days. If Dad wants to argue that it is merely childcare, then he could have an argument about being able to utilize childcare of his choice on his time. However, Mom can argue this is an important educational choice that they need to agree upon together. Seems like it could go either way.