HawthorneVillager.com

exactly. take it from a mom that drops her SK'er at school in the morning on the way to work... with a 3 yr old in tow (who claims his legs are broken and needs to be carried across the schoolyard ). i just have to get my act together and get out of the house 5 mins earlier so i can park on the street behind the school and walk. there is no need for parents to use the parking lot. period. to me it's an entitlement thing. sorry... i know i'm going to take heat for that

Daycare, thanks for your info, I am sending this publicly instead of PM'ing you. My intent is not to cause more issues about this and I thank you for your contributions on the school council. I know someone on there and you guys do good work.

i will take this up with my town concillor, the education board member and the police.

Thanks for the info you have provided me.

If the police cannot be there, the principle has a lot of options that should have been done. they can order people to move their cars and order them off the property, They can ban people from the property as well but there is not the will to do so. Also pictures can be taken and provided to the police and people can get ticketed to the car owners who illegally park. There are a lot of options here that are not being implemented. Even you mentioned about the road signs the town offered not being put up. One phone call can take care of this and temporary signs can be errected with sandbags and posts but I guess this was overlooked as well. I am tired of the talk, I will do my part to get action done.

have a good weekend everyone.
Regards,


regards,
Matt

Thanks Matt. I hope you get some results.

Thanks for the suggestion, but the board property pretty much ends at the edge of the parking lot. From that point North is Town property and the park (including a soccer field).

Parents can do that if they like. I don't know if the Town would be willing to shorten the soccer field for a parking lot, but you can try. Hopefully, if they did agree it would not be connected to the Board property because we do not have enough staff to supervise a larger area.

Just wondering if the newer school north of Derry has any of these same problems, I noticed when I was there to vote that the Kiss N Ride lane was separate from the parking lot and that it had an entrance and an exit. Maybe they just need to modify the HV parking lot.

I'm a teacher in Peel and we seen a similar problem last year when our new school was still under construction. It was my job once a week to patrol the Kiss and Ride. I hated it ...they didn't prepare me in teachers college for parents who thought that their schedule was more important than the safety of students. We had signs posted, diagonal lines painted, pylons set up, numerous letters sent home all to no avail. I witnessed more than one parent argue with the principal about their "right" to drop their child off where ever they felt like it. Luckily no one was ever hurt. I was pregnant and NOT WILLING to endanger myself by walking through a parking lot full of moving cars! Thankfully our new Kiss and Ride area works well, but we have a lot more property than HV does. I feel for you parents who are dealing with this issue. Hopefully something can be worked out soon!

The school, the teachers and the administration can only do so much when it comes to parking control.

Perfect world would be parents park in parking spots and walk up to the school to pick their kids up, or if the kids are big enough to park in the parking spot and not along the kiss and ride section and wait for them to come.

The morning doesnt seem to be too much of a problem seeing how they just drop and go...

The afternoon they get their like daycaremom has said, as early as 3pm a full 45 mins before school is let out and park in the kiss and ride section. The school doesnt have the resources or the time to go out and tell the parents to move. Even if they did, and they have on occasion only to be ignored outright.

No one is laying blame but one side has to help out the other. Parents who are doing this have to realize they are inconveniceing others and do something to correct the problem.

The school council has done everything within their power for the last couple of years to remedy the situation whereas the people who are causing the problem (intentional or unintentional) need to do help out.

If they can make it to the school as early as 3pm, why not park the car get out and help out until they have to leave? I have spoken with many parents, like myself who work 9-5 and cant possibly help out but would love to. There are other parents who can help out and maybe we need to find out how to ask them directly if they can help out.

No one wants dozens and dozens of cars lining Bennett...I know if I lived on that street I'd go nuts. The safety of the children leaving school comes first and foremost.

And you can try to make changes to the parking lot...all of which costs TONS of money. And I dont know about you, but getting money from the school boards or the province is less likely than winning a lottery.

The problem with taking land from the soccer field is that one day (and hopefully that day will come) where the school is at its suggested amount of children and we'll end up having too many parking spots and not enough parks for the kids. It will cost millions to tear up the field and put parking spaces and then dig it up again to put back parks.

Its a pain in the butt but I wouldnt want to be the one to tell a parent their kids been hit by a car and injured. Kids come first.

_________________
Mike Cluett
Local/Regional Councillor
Wards 1,6,7 & 8

Website | Email mike@mikecluett.ca | Cell (647) 888-9032 | Facebook Page | | Twitter @Mike_Cluett

I applaude the school for doing what they are doing....they are looking out for the safety of their students and staff....being a teacher myself I have heard of staff being hit by cars on more than one occasion (one was my wife's T.A) and so many parents have that mentality of 'me me me' and don't think outside their little box. Perhaps there is a better solution but the school is doing what is best for the safety of the students and staff....it is unfortunate that parents are causing unsafe situations. Maybe some of these adults should be going back to school?

Okay, so I see now that my question did not come off as I intended it to. I realize this situation affects every parent at the school one way or another, I was just asking so I could understand where you are coming from.

I am told by the principal that the situation on the road is getting better as parents get used to the new routine. Most parents are participating in safe parking practices. I emailed the Town again and cc'd the councillors. Heidi Schlegel got back to me today and said that the work order for the signage has been put through and we will be getting signs installed as soon as possible. Parking control will start monitoring the area next week.

We will continue with closing the parking lot until the next school council meeting (February) when we review the situation again.