Chesterbrook Elementary School Kiss and Ride -- Get to the back of the line!!

[Anonymous]

why don't parents just drop kids off on side streets and let them walk a few block?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:why don't parents just drop kids off on side streets and let them walk a few block?

Most schools discourage this. It creates further chaos with cars stopping. People just love to blocks the driveways of those in the neighborhoods nearby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why don't parents just drop kids off on side streets and let them walk a few block?

Most schools discourage this. It creates further chaos with cars stopping. People just love to blocks the driveways of those in the neighborhoods nearby.

ours discourages it, but parents do it and it means less traffic going into the school. The principal has even less authority over this than they do over left turns into the school lot

[Anonymous]

Why can't parents just wait until 5-10 minutes before school starts or 10 minutes after school ends instead of lining up 30-45 minutes ahead of time?

We're also at a school that has a long K&R line, but in the morning when I get there 10 minutes before the bell, the line is moving quickly and 5 minutes before the bell, it's pretty much cleared out. In the afternoon, the line doesn't even start moving until 10 minutes after the bell, so I don't get there until then. I don't see the point in having to wait 30 minutes. In the mornings, my kids would hate waiting that long in the car and in the afternoons, they just talk to their friends or read a book while they wait.

[Anonymous]

The kiss and ride line is longer this year because more parents are avoiding the buses. The buses are inefficient this year because they have to do two consecutive loops. Also, some parents are concerned with Covid on the buses. This has made the kiss and ride line longer than previous years. Then coupled with the principal's edict on only having one snaking kiss and ride lane on Kirby....makes for a recipe that is a disaster!

[Anonymous]

It is shocking to see parents lining up at 3 PM for a 3:35 PM dismissal !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't parents just wait until 5-10 minutes before school starts or 10 minutes after school ends instead of lining up 30-45 minutes ahead of time?

We're also at a school that has a long K&R line, but in the morning when I get there 10 minutes before the bell, the line is moving quickly and 5 minutes before the bell, it's pretty much cleared out. In the afternoon, the line doesn't even start moving until 10 minutes after the bell, so I don't get there until then. I don't see the point in having to wait 30 minutes. In the mornings, my kids would hate waiting that long in the car and in the afternoons, they just talk to their friends or read a book while they wait.

I have yet to see a single Chesterbrook parent who was on here complaining explain why they don't do THIS.

[Anonymous]

What a mess on Kirby!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kirby road is a mess. I can't believe a cop can't direct traffic somehow. This situation is like waiting for an accident to happen.

My kids were at Chesterbrook ten + years ago and they tried and tried and tried to hire a crossing guard after the last one retired and no one applied. They tried for years. So they moved everyone to the buses. The police do not have the staff to supply a traffic cop there. We are lucky to get the one at Longfellow.

It’s an off-duty cop working OT. The school board could pay for one for Chesterbrook same as Longfellow.

This is likely an equity issue.

If the SB pays for a crossing guard at HHI schools only and not for Title One schools…

Then make sure you are advocating for all schools that need an off duty officer to direct traffic gets one. Not every school in the county is on a busy road that actually needs a police officer versus a crossing guard.

There are not enough police officers left in ffx counth for every school to have an officer directing traffic.

Our Catholic school on a very busy main road has always paid for a police officer to direct morning and afternoon kiss and ride.

This year they were told that no cops were available for the school, in spite being in a location that backs up traffic onto the main 4 lane divided road.

The reason there are not enough cops to run school kiss and rides is because there was a record number of police retirements and police quitting in ffx county over the past year.

And there is a severe drop in academy recruits over the past year. So there are not enough new cops funneling into the system to replace those leaving service. The current low staffed departments have officers working extra hours to cover the basic policing needs, so there are not enough police to run car pool lanes except at the most dire schools.

In our neigh orhood, that means only the middle school (same street at the Catholic school memtioned above) and the high school has cops directing traffic.

This is a side consequence of police shortages caused by the stigmatization of police over the past year.

Re-read the bolded.

[Anonymous]

Put your kid on the bus. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kirby road is a mess. I can't believe a cop can't direct traffic somehow. This situation is like waiting for an accident to happen.

My kids were at Chesterbrook ten + years ago and they tried and tried and tried to hire a crossing guard after the last one retired and no one applied. They tried for years. So they moved everyone to the buses. The police do not have the staff to supply a traffic cop there. We are lucky to get the one at Longfellow.

It’s an off-duty cop working OT. The school board could pay for one for Chesterbrook same as Longfellow.

This is likely an equity issue.

If the SB pays for a crossing guard at HHI schools only and not for Title One schools…

Then make sure you are advocating for all schools that need an off duty officer to direct traffic gets one. Not every school in the county is on a busy road that actually needs a police officer versus a crossing guard.

There are not enough police officers left in ffx counth for every school to have an officer directing traffic.

Our Catholic school on a very busy main road has always paid for a police officer to direct morning and afternoon kiss and ride.

This year they were told that no cops were available for the school, in spite being in a location that backs up traffic onto the main 4 lane divided road.

The reason there are not enough cops to run school kiss and rides is because there was a record number of police retirements and police quitting in ffx county over the past year.

And there is a severe drop in academy recruits over the past year. So there are not enough new cops funneling into the system to replace those leaving service. The current low staffed departments have officers working extra hours to cover the basic policing needs, so there are not enough police to run car pool lanes except at the most dire schools.

In our neigh orhood, that means only the middle school (same street at the Catholic school memtioned above) and the high school has cops directing traffic.

This is a side consequence of police shortages caused by the stigmatization of police over the past year.

Re-read the bolded.

Re read the entire statememt.

There are not enough ffx cops to cover the schools on busy roads due to too many retiremts and too few recruits.

Even if your school had a cop in the past, they might not have enough cops available for your school to have one this year, even if the school is on a busier road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: It's like the principal pushed the problem further up Kirby Road. There are all kinds of illegal U-turns, blockages of sidestreets, and commuters including school buses traveling in the opposing lane to get around the kiss and ride lane. There are near accidents every day.

A kid is going to get hit by someone doing an illegal U turn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: It's like the principal pushed the problem further up Kirby Road. There are all kinds of illegal U-turns, blockages of sidestreets, and commuters including school buses traveling in the opposing lane to get around the kiss and ride lane. There are near accidents every day.

A kid is going to get hit by someone doing an illegal U turn.

I agree. People should send her newsletter to the appropriate authorities - VDOT?

[Anonymous]

The news should film the ridiculous line that forms on a street with zero shoulder.

[Anonymous]

I drove past the school at 2:50 PM today and the entire kiss and ride loop was already filled up with cars waiting. This means that people are getting there even earlier than 3 PM for 3:35pm let out.