Does anyone have any idea when/where or even better, links to an online report of this to substantiate the anecdote?
Sounds unlikely. If it were round here (SW London) you'd have parents driving their children to school on purpose in order to get some extra free childcare.
If it is true though then:-
I imagine they just arranged to drop off and pick up the kids round the corner
I wouldn't be surprised if this was the actual goal.
At my daughter's school there's no parking outside, and so the few people that do drive (10 or so I'd guess) manage to double (and sometimes triple) park, and park too close to junctions, etc, much to the annoyance of the local residents, other parents, and the school staff and governors.
If they were forced to park a few hundred meters away there would be much less pressure on parking as everyone is more spread out and more likely to find somewhere suitable and safe to park.
(The reason they don't do this now is if they park next to the school they can be in and out in 5 minutes and that usually avoids a parking ticket. If they park further away then they'll have to pay each time to avoid a ticket. 2 * 15 minutes each day * 190 days per year = almost £300 around here. Yes, parking is £3.10 per hour on a meter.)