Parents Setting Examples

[Dr.Ken Sokolowski]

Ever since the WPS changed the traffic patterns at WHS and some of the elementary school, there has been resistance from some of the parents to comply with the new directives. There have been meetings among the BOE, the WPS, departments of the Town, the Town Manager, and the Weth' Police Division.

Each month, as Chief Cetran issued his report to the Manager, the tone has turned a little firmer. Even the Manager's report to Council has recently reflected the frustration of the Manager over parents who continue to disobey the traffic directions especially at the WHS.

Apparently some of the parents are not playing by the rules.

In today's report of the Chief to the Manager is the following (self-explanatory) paragraph:

"In January the SSB [Support Service Bureau] Commander continued to work closely with the Board of Education in addressing parking and traffic complaints in and around the high school and several elementary schools. Numerous parking issues have been addressed at Hanmer Elementary School. Work has been done with the B.O.E. to begin using the gated area in front of the school. The gated area will be used as the new pickup and drop off area for the buses and vans. At the Wethersfield High School, parents are still dropping off in the area of the buses and vans, in violation of posted signs. The department will begin address these parents in the morning hours."

Tickets and fines are going to be more frequent for sure.

Time for some parents to set a better example.

[Dr.Ken Sokolowski]

(Received as an email to the media 3/19/2006 and posted here. Dr.Ken)

I am writing this letter in response to a notice sent home from school on Friday, March 17th [2006] (Announcement to Parents of Children in the Wethersfield Schools from Wethersfield Police Department and Wethersfield Public Schools).

This notice stated that, due to increased parent traffic dropping off and picking up children before and after school, the police department along with the schools, are trying to lessen traffic congestion. I do not have a problem with that; what I do have a problem with are the suggestions given to "reduce traffic in and around immediate school areas":

Drop off child a short distance away from main entrances (i.e. side streets) or make arrangements to meet child off school property for pickup (i.e. side streets)

As the parent of a first and second grader, I was shocked to read that, in this day and age, the Police Department and School District would even suggest this. I want to SEE my children walk into the school every morning and I want to WATCH my children walk out of school every afternoon. During the warmer months I walk my children to school, however, during the winter, or on rainy days, I drive them. Leaving them off on a side street is not an option for me.

My question is, would the Police Department or School District be held accountable, if God forbid, anything to happen to my children in those minutes that they were out of my sight? If parents were to drop children off on a side street, would there be an escort to walk them to school? After school, would there be an escort to walk them from school to their parents?

I am all for making drop-off and pick-up easier for everyone, but I feel that the main concern should be the safety of our children. During the morning, drop-off typically is hectic for about 15 minutes, and even less time after school. I know, as a parent, I am concerned with the safety of ALL of the children, not just my own, and would never jeopardize their health or well being.

M.H.
[Old Weth']

[morganika]

"My question is, would the Police Department or School District be held accountable, if God forbid, anything to happen to my children in those minutes that they were out of my sight? If parents were to drop children off on a side street, would there be an escort to walk them to school? After school, would there be an escort to walk them from school to their parents?"

I think this person needs to move to Glastonbury. I heard it's safer there. I'm sick and tired of not being able to get out of my driveway because of all the people dropping off in the morning. Although I must say I'm surprised, I thought they were all driving their kids because they were lazy, I never considered they were paranoid.

[SyZyGy]

morganika wrote: I think this person needs to move to Glastonbury. I heard it's safer there. I'm sick and tired of not being able to get out of my driveway because of all the people dropping off in the morning. Although I must say I'm surprised, I thought they were all driving their kids because they were lazy, I never considered they were paranoid.

This ain't an easy problem to solve.
Not exactly B/W.
M.H. wants a fair solution.
Willing to work at it.
You don't.
Suggest one of these
for your next move:

[

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[Dr.Ken Sokolowski]

(Received as an email attachment 3/20/2006 and posted here. Color emphasis is mine. Dr.Ken)

Mrs. M.H.

The letter you are speaking of was never sent with the intention of questioning anyone's concerns for children safety. Many parents do not even realize that the children safety is being jeopardized.

The problem is though that just by shear volume the number of parents dropping off their children at the front doors and in the parking lots is making it unsafe. We presently have young children crossing between cars and crossing through lots unattended. We also have parents passing buses, cutting off cars and parking in posted no parking areas.

Just by asking parents to drop off their children off of school property it will lessen the volume and chance that any child will be hurt.

This letter was also intended to address all Wethersfield school traffic issues in a general. This includes various elementary, middle and high school problems. There was never an intent to ask any elementary school parent to drop their very young child off on a side street that would not allow them full view of the child as they walked onto school property.

Mrs. M.H., I am assuming that your children goes to Hanmer Elementary. If this is true you could however park on Garden St by the playscape, let your children out of the car and still be able to watch them walk onto school property and into one of the entrances. You could also park on Church St., stand outside your car and watch your children walk down Rosedale St. onto school property. If these are not viable options, Mrs. M.H., then I still ask that you park on either one of these streets and then personally walk your children to the door of the school.

These traffic issues have become such a concern with the police, school officials and parents that we are all going to have to make sacrifices. The police and school officials are asking for your help with this. The police have over the last two years done selective enforcement and issued numerous verbal warnings and summons to parents who operate unsafely on school property and who park illegally. However, we can not be there everyday and within a week the vehicle safety issues come right back.

We are not asking that you stop driving your children to school we just ask that you do your best to stay off of school property. However, we do not expect you to park off school property if your transporting/picking up a sick child, delivering a large school project, etc. Again, Mrs. M.H., we are asking all parents to make some sacrifices for the safety of our children.

Thank you for your concerned email, if you have any further concerns please feel free to contact me...

Lt. Thomas Dillon
Commander
Support Services Division
Wethersfield Police Department

[Dr.Ken Sokolowski]

(M.H. emailed a response to the WPD's commentary. Dr.Ken)

The problem I have is that parents for Hanmer were told to line up on Rosedale to drop off and pick up their children; we could enter from Rosedale AND from Garden street. To me, that will be a traffic jam...parents trying to merge from Garden Street into a huge line of cars coming in from Rosedale.

I wouldn't have a problem with parking on Garden street, except that I don't like letting my 6-year-old out on the street (I drive a van and have 3 children) , and there are no sidewalks which makes driving a stroller across the mud and grass pretty tricky. They'd also have to then cross bus traffic entering from Garden Street onto Francis.

About half of us had been using the Board of Ed's parking lot since September (never the spaces, just along the side of the lot) for the 10 minutes it takes to drop off and pick up, while others used Rosedale. Now, all of us will be on Rosedale. There were some parents who did line up on Francis on the No Parking side, and I do agree that this was wrong. I never saw a problem with us using the perimeter of the lot, not blocking any parked cars or entry/exit to the lot, for that short amount of time. It was convenient, since we could quickly drop off and pick up, seeing our children the entire time. I was even told by an officer about 2 months ago that he did not see a problem with the way that we were picking up the kids, nor did it seem like a big deal to him since we did not interfere with the BOE and we were only there for 20 minutes a day (before and after school).

I guess we'll see how things go tomorrow [3/20/2006]. I will never drop my children off on a side street; too many things happen nowadays. When I can walk them to school, I do; but this time of year, we drive.
M.H.

[Dr.Ken Sokolowski]

Here is the text of the bulletin sent home with the students at WHS from the WPD & WPS regarding arrival and departures from school. Thanks to Lt. Andrew Power. Dr.Ken

The Chief of Police James Cetran is asking for the cooperation of all parents who have high school aged children in town.

Over the last several years the police department and Board of Education has worked tirelessly on making the high school area as safe as possible. As you are all aware since last summer there have been numerous changes in bus drop off and pickup areas along with other parking area restrictions. The police department and Board of Education have made these changes due to the increased amount of parent traffic in and around the high school. We have made these changes in the best interest of your children. Our main concern was to make the high school area as safe as possible to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

What has concerned the police department the most is that numerous parents continue to disregard posted No-Parking signs, block crosswalks, park in Fire Lanes and block entrances and exits to school property.

All parents should now be aware that the main entrance to the high school off of Wolcott Hill Road is for buses and student transport vans only from Monday – Friday 7:00 am to 3:00 pm. This change is prominently displayed by signage at the Wolcott Hill Rd. entrance.

On a daily basis the department receives complaints of parents still driving into the main entrance and dropping off their children. The police department is asking that all parents respect each other and not to make traffic around the schools any harder than it has to be. Parents are also reminded to be aware of parking restrictions around the school and to do their best to abide by them.

Due to the traffic problems caused by increased parent traffic the police department will increase its enforcement duties at the high school on a routine basis. Police officers will be instructed to closely monitor the high school traffic and to take any enforcement action necessary. To help reduce traffic in and around the immediate school areas the police department is suggesting that parents:

The police department thanks all parents for their anticipated cooperation in this matter. Any questions and concerns about the school traffic can be forwarded to Lt. Thomas Dillon at [e-mail].

[Dr.Ken Sokolowski]

[ Here is the text of the bulletin sent home with the students from elementary schools by the WPD & WPS regarding arrival and departures. Thanks to Lt. Andrew Power. Dr.Ken ]

The Chief of Police James Cetran is asking for the cooperation of all parents who have school aged children in town. Over the last several years the police department and Board of Education has become concerned with the increased amount of parent traffic in and around all town schools. In those last couple years we have witnessed a dramatic increase in parent traffic at opening and closing times. The increase in school traffic has become a safety concern to the police department The police department has encountered numerous parents that disregard posted No Parking signs, block crosswalks, park in Fire Lanes and block entrances and exits to schools. The police department is asking that all parents respect each other and not to make traffic around the schools any harder than it has to be. Due to the traffic problems caused by increased parent traffic the police department will increase its enforcement duties at each school on a rotating basis. To help reduce traffic in and around the immediate school areas the police department is suggesting that parents:

• Drop child off a short distance away from main entrances (i.e. side streets)
  
• Make arrangements to meet child off school property for pickup (i.e. side streets
  
• If child is on a bus route , allow child to use the bus for transportation.
  
• When dropping off and picking up, comply with all parking rules and restrictions.

The police department thanks all parents for their anticipated cooperation in this matter. Any questions and concerns about the school traffic can be forwarded to Lt. Thomas Dillon at [e-mail].