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.

+1 yeah, it's like kicking the can further down the street

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.

Anonymous wrote: Here is the latest message from the Chesterbrook principal:
"Reminder Right ONLY
The safety of students is critical. During arrival and dismissal, cars should not try to cut across Kirby making a left turn. Please think about the few minutes you may save and the safety risk you create when you want to turn left. It is not worth it.



Still asking WHY?
Here are a few reasons that a right hand only turn makes sense.

Driving straight allows the traffic to keep flowing which creates better visibility to walking students and parents.
Left turns back up traffic on Kirby creating visual barriers and increases strain on traffic flow behind you.
Left turns into the parking lot often also block oncoming traffic for through cars, which creates a visual barrier on our crosswalk, making this extremly unsafe for our students.
Patrols will begin this week so hopefully we can unload cars faster which will keep our line moving faster.
Once Kiss N Ride clears and there are no cars making a right into the parking lot, usually after 8:48, feel free to make your left turn. However, arriving this late will mean your child is getting into class late."

This makes zero sense based off traffic laws.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't you be alternating lines? That is, one car goes in from one direction, then a car goes in from the other direction?

No because the school has sent multiple messages explaining exactly how the car line is supposed to go, and no left turns are part of that plan.

Again, the school has no authority over public roads.

So your theory is...the principal has no authority over whether you make a left turn into the kiss and ride line? Her authority stops at the boundary of the road and the parking lot?

As a disinterested third party, I don’t know the law, but my guess would be yes - she is definitely guilty of an overreach of authority. She should only be issuing rules for roads on school property, not for ones that are also used by the general public. It sounds as if her edict re: who can turn where and when is negatively affecting commuters and drivers, so this matter should be brought before local government officials.

Any lawyers out there that know the laws governing this?

Tough job for the principal to have to teach parents too. Everyone looking at real estate in this area should read this thread.

Here is the latest message from the Chesterbrook principal:
"Reminder Right ONLY
The safety of students is critical. During arrival and dismissal, cars should not try to cut across Kirby making a left turn. Please think about the few minutes you may save and the safety risk you create when you want to turn left. It is not worth it.



Still asking WHY?
Here are a few reasons that a right hand only turn makes sense.

Driving straight allows the traffic to keep flowing which creates better visibility to walking students and parents.
Left turns back up traffic on Kirby creating visual barriers and increases strain on traffic flow behind you.
Left turns into the parking lot often also block oncoming traffic for through cars, which creates a visual barrier on our crosswalk, making this extremly unsafe for our students.
Patrols will begin this week so hopefully we can unload cars faster which will keep our line moving faster.
Once Kiss N Ride clears and there are no cars making a right into the parking lot, usually after 8:48, feel free to make your left turn. However, arriving this late will mean your child is getting into class late."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't you be alternating lines? That is, one car goes in from one direction, then a car goes in from the other direction?

No because the school has sent multiple messages explaining exactly how the car line is supposed to go, and no left turns are part of that plan.

Again, the school has no authority over public roads.

So your theory is...the principal has no authority over whether you make a left turn into the kiss and ride line? Her authority stops at the boundary of the road and the parking lot?

The principal has no authority over public roads. This is not hard to understand.

Anonymous wrote:And Kirby is a narrow road with not much side to it. There's no where for the parents to pull off the road to wait. There is a big gulley by the side of the road. It is treacherous.

+100

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't you be alternating lines? That is, one car goes in from one direction, then a car goes in from the other direction?

No because the school has sent multiple messages explaining exactly how the car line is supposed to go, and no left turns are part of that plan.

Again, the school has no authority over public roads.

So your theory is...the principal has no authority over whether you make a left turn into the kiss and ride line? Her authority stops at the boundary of the road and the parking lot?

As a disinterested third party, I don’t know the law, but my guess would be yes - she is definitely guilty of an overreach of authority. She should only be issuing rules for roads on school property, not for ones that are also used by the general public. It sounds as if her edict re: who can turn where and when is negatively affecting commuters and drivers, so this matter should be brought before local government officials.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't you be alternating lines? That is, one car goes in from one direction, then a car goes in from the other direction?

No because the school has sent multiple messages explaining exactly how the car line is supposed to go, and no left turns are part of that plan.

Again, the school has no authority over public roads.

So your theory is...the principal has no authority over whether you make a left turn into the kiss and ride line? Her authority stops at the boundary of the road and the parking lot?

This is an interesting question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't you be alternating lines? That is, one car goes in from one direction, then a car goes in from the other direction?

No because the school has sent multiple messages explaining exactly how the car line is supposed to go, and no left turns are part of that plan.

Again, the school has no authority over public roads.

So your theory is...the principal has no authority over whether you make a left turn into the kiss and ride line? Her authority stops at the boundary of the road and the parking lot?

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.

I guess they didn’t try hard enough. That happens when you are unwilling to pay more than peanuts for a crap job.

they could not change the pay, it was set by the county.

Sounds like more excuses. Lobby the county for higher pay or supplement with a bonus “thank you” from the parents.

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.

I guess they didn’t try hard enough. That happens when you are unwilling to pay more than peanuts for a crap job.

they could not change the pay, it was set by the county.

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.