Someone Wanting to Review the New School Handbooks for Next Year With Me.

This morning we were outside and some girl pulled in the driveway and asked if we were the parents of the child living here. Yes, my other half answered and she started telling him why she was there, and I couldn't hear as I was washing out litter boxes but I heard him say to her "you need to talk to her, she handles all that stuff". So, over to me she walks and starts giving me this speech about how she would like to go over the new handbook for the next school year. I told her I didn't have time and we just used the handbook we get when school starts, so then she asked my daughter if she knew a few people, which she did, as they were teachers at her school (afterwards I gave her a talking to about not telling strangers anything, no matter how nice they look or act). Well, then she made it sound like I should listen as this was a new handbook the teachers would be going by. I was irritated by then and really needed to get those cat boxes back inside before it was too late. So I just said I didn't have the time and turned and walked away and she got back in her car and left. She was a bit persistant, but I wasn't rude or mean, just let her know politely I wasn't interested in what she had to tell me.

So, anyway, after having second thoughts I realized I should have listened to what she was going to "go over" with me for several reasons. I guess the skeptic in me started nagging. Firstly, she said she was from a college which is probably and hour and a half to two hours away. She was wearing ID around her neck but she never came close enough to me to read it. Secondly, why would a college be doing this so far away, I mean we have a state college and a tech college here and two other universities which are closer, but not in the same county. I had noticed she had a crude map marked with yellow dots, which I am assuming was houses where there were children, I mean she pulled right into our driveway and we are the only ones on our street with a school aged kid (K-12) that goes to county school, and the neighbors who have kids the same age go to a city school but she didn't go to their house. She may have before she pulled into our driveway, but I was busy doing work, not watching the neighbor's house. She knew a child lived here. Thirdly, it is a holiday. Lastly, what would they be changing that they need to do this and why would it be so darned important?? Usually, they just give the new/updated rules or whatever when school starts.

Anyone ever heard of this type of thing before? I would have asked at work tonight, but everyone else there tonight was older, like retirement older with no kids. I am thinking I will go into the school office tomorrow morning when I drop my daughter off and ask the ladies in the office if they know what this was about. It may have been a completely innocent thing, or not, but it has bothered me now to the point I'd thought I'd post it here.

reply to post by opal13


Something about this does seem to be a little fishy here. I never had the same experience you have, but similar. It could have been someone from census (there has been discussions about this, it is a consiracy site after all), but she also could have been a sales person, possibly someone who takes surveys, I don't know could have been anyone. But I wouldn't have answered one question, I would have kindly asked her to be on her way. This is not something that is important enough to bother somebody at their home for.

I'd have to agree with the sith lord.

There is nothing included in those school handbooks that would warrant an actual visit from someone working for the school. I graduated from HS in 2001 and we used handbooks back then, but they were just distributed to us at the beginning of the year. That was the end of it.

Being that I have a baby now - if he was the same age as your daughter and this happened, I'd probably call the school district to see if that was an authorized visitor.

Very strange indeed.

Yes, fishy for sure, and no I didn't answer any questions. Like I said, I am going to ask in the office this morning and if they don't know what I'm talking about, I'll call the school board. I will let you know what they say.

The other thing that bothers me is they knew we were the house on this street with a kid. I know the school has our address and all on file, but we didn't live here during the last census and if this is not a school sponsored thing, then they shouldn't be giving out info on the students. Either way, it makes me uncomfortable.

The school had never heard of such a thing and it was nothing school related. They didn't even know about any changes to any handbooks, students or teachers. They are going to look into it. They were also very concerned about how they got a "map" and why they were doing this on a holiday. Also, one of the ladies in the office said to another one, isn't it strange the teachers names she mentioned were ones associated with my daughter's class. Hadn't thought of that one either.

[edit on 5/26/09 by opal13]

So, thinking about the map with the yellow dots....can you associate those places with anyone you know? Is there anyone who might have received a visit from this woman that you could call? Do you or other half remember anything about the car? Might want to jot down a few notes, just in case....

This would make me feel creepy, especially since you already talked to the school...

Good luck, be careful and please post any other details.....

Also please ensure the safety of your child, which I'm quite sure you will do, but if you notice anything suspicious - cars that don't belong, people - your best bet would be to inform the local authorities.

In Texas, we have a different way of "dealing" with these types, but I don't think you'd want to go to jail.

Well, now that school is starting for many very soon, I thought I'd bump this and add to it. Seems someone is at it again.

People are out knocking on local doors and detectives say not only are they lying about what they want, they're also asking for information about nearby children.

wlos.com...

Now in this article, the people were from a different place than the one I was told last year towards the end of the school year. Also, the girl in my case was driving a small compact car, which is different from the white vehicles described in the news link.

And I heard the lady that first reported it this time was a teacher, so she knew better.

I wonder if this is happening in other areas as well.


[edit on 8/5/09 by opal13]

[edit on 8/5/09 by opal13]

reply to post by ThatDGgirl


At that time, it was a small map of local roads right around my area, however, I am not familiar with other children in that area exactly other than those next door to me, which go to private school. Also, I could not see the map well enough to be able to tell.

Wow...just wow. That is very strange, especially with the map with the info on where kids lived.

I would think that if a book needed to be reviewed, it would be the actual teachers and members of the school board that would do it, after all its their class and curriculam that they will be teaching to your children. If they really needed a review from the kids and parents, it should be the teachers that meet with the parents to do it. At least thats how most of it is done here in Canada as far as I know.

If you see this person again in your neighborhood (your house or not), demand to see her I.D. (get a copy) if you can or take a picture, write down the type of car as well as the licence plate number. Also ask to see her drivers licence so you can compare it with the ID she had around her neck. (everyone else seems to need 2 pieces of photo ID, why cant you) and take down all the info on it then contact the place she says she is from and ask them about her, also contact your local authorities and file a report.

And mot importantly KEEP A CLOSE EYE on your children!!! instruct them NOT to give out any information and that if any info is needed that the person wanting it should contact their parents.

I don't trust anyone that inquires about kids or anything else for that matter while going door to door (ID is too easily faked). "None of your business" IMO.

It is important to ensure that your daughter does not talk to strangers and immediately gets an trusted adult when approached by a stranger, even at her own door, but it's just as important that *YOU* do not give information to strangers either!

This has some sort of scam written all over it.

This is how the grift typically works...

You are a thief traveling through an area looking for places to rob. You case out some places that are potential targets. Then, you establish a plausible cover (i.e., college students selling magazines, church selling raffle tickets, fireman doing a free smoke detector testing, collecting census data, etc.). As people have grown more skeptically cautious of people going door-to-door, you go to UPS/Kinkos and print up some identification badges to give you credibility. No one is going to verify your credentials as our behavior has been mentally conditioned to not question those that present credentials (Police, Sheriff, FBI, ATF, etc.). Going up to the door of these locations that you previously targeted allows you to do the following:

A.) See if anyone is home. For the fact they picked a Holiday shows that they were hoping no one would be.

B.) Case the joint in greater detail. What things of value are visible from the front-door/front-window. What other entrances are visible. How many occupants are living there.

C.) If someone is home, they can casually talk even more useful information out of those who answer the door.

We see this all the time on the West Coast to the point that we end up being downright rude to even Jehovah Witnesses and Mormon Missionaries, not because we dislike them necessarily, but because how easy is would be for someone to dress up in a white shirt & tie, take a stack of Watchtowers and go door-to-door posing as a Jehovah Witness to case out your crib.

It could have been someone legitimate. It could have been someone looking to abduct children. However, it could have been a thief passing through town just casing out your house.

Just to be safe, if you don't know them and aren't expecting them, don't talk to them unless they are driving a Public Vehicle.

reply to post by QBSneak000

If you see this person again in your neighborhood (your house or not), demand to see her I.D. (get a copy) if you can or take a picture, write down the type of car as well as the licence plate number. Also ask to see her drivers licence so you can compare it with the ID she had around her neck. (everyone else seems to need 2 pieces of photo ID, why cant you) and take down all the info on it then contact the place she says she is from and ask them about her, also contact your local authorities and file a report.

I agree, but I would not "demand" anything. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Play her game. Fein interest, give up some false info while asking questions back of her! Memorize some details, license plate, ID name and #, tattoos or scars, ask for handouts or printed materials to keep.

This is very interesting! I wish they would come to my house! What city do you live in? (Just city or area, no t&c violations please.)

Figuring out what houses on a block that are home to school-age children isn't Rocket Science. There are tell-tale signs if you know what to look for.

The reason why a thief would care about only those houses with school-age children is because it denotes that the family is younger. Older people generally don't leave the house much. They are much harder to rob without risk of a physical confrontation or a 911 call being made. Ccontrary to popular belief, Breaking & Entering isn't even illegal in most places if there is no other crime committed along with it (Tort Law requires monetary damage to either person or property for it to be a crime), Burglary isn't a Felony unless it reaches a certain dollar threshold, but Assault and/or Armed Robbery is instant Prison time which is why most thieves are careful not to be put in situations where it may escalate.

Whereas, younger couples with children generally leave the house all the time. If you have kids, then you have to make runs to the grocery store, soccer practice, recitals, and you are much more likely to take your kids out of town on holidays to either vacation or spend it with your older relatives (who don't travel to you but stay home because that's what older people do).

Likewise, younger families with kids might be financially strapped, but they have more assets that thieves can unload quickly for cash. An XBox360 might not seem like a big asset, but it's far easier to unload and carries the same street value as compared to antique jewelry that an old woman would have. An XBox360 is only distinguishable by it's Serial Number which most people don't keep track of, nor is any Pawn Shop owner going to think twice about someone hawking it, whereas a distinctive piece of Art worth a quarter million would be highly identifiable and recognizable and set off Red-Flags everywhere you go to unload it.

reply to post by getreadyalready


I am in Vancouver Canada and like I said, here this kind of thing (if real) is handled a lot differently.

As for not demanding the info, I agree....only to a point. If they still will not provide the info while being nice about it, then demand it. Then if its still a no, call the cops and let them know that you have info like their drivers licence and are going to report them and warn them never to show themselves in your neighborhood again.

One thing that will always work is if you can take pictures of the person while they are not expecting so at least you have something else to give to the authorities.

This originally happened to me in May. It is happening again and made the local new. (well, anything does...ha ha)

wlos.com...

It is under the "school survey scam"

happens to be a teacher and knows schools systems don't typically send people door to door. Her suspicions turned into fright when the man had personal information about her family. xxxxx said, "He knew that we had a high school daughter and asked a bunch of questions about her, wanted to talk to her, wanted to know when she would be home so he could return and talk to her." The man did come back, but was turned away.

White vehicles have pulled into driveways throughout Buncombe County. Men and women are telling residents they're with Buncombe County Schools and Washington State University and are conducting a survey about a new curriculum

School officials say they're not conducting a survey and have heard similar stories from at least a dozen others. Detectives say the so-called "survey takers" also asked homeowners "if any children live in the neighborhood".

Now, I am in western NC, and Washington State (I assume Washington as in the state of) is 3000 miles away. That in itself doesn't make sense. At least the girl that came to my house a few months ago said she was from a college about 2 hours from me.

Hey, I'm a paranoid person - especially after coming here . I don't tell anybody anything, especially if the situation stinks, as does this one. Trust me, if anyone shows up at my house, the law will be called and tag numbers will be written down. Although now it has been made public and law enforcement is aware of it, it will probably die down a bit.

It infuriates me because the girl that visited me back in May would have seemed very ligit to anyone who has a trusting nature.