I am writing this as a grandmother concerned with the safety of our children being dropped off at the Mallett School on late arrival Wednesdays. It is total chaos at the drop off area! Cars are double and even triple parked, some discharge students and they are running between cars and the handicap drop off spot is used for non-handicap students. Wednesday was the tipping point for me! Someone double parked and totally left their car for 15 minutes. Cars parked by the sidewalk were blocked and could not leave, other cars were going around blocking other inbound traffic.
This was an accident waiting to happen. After 15 minutes, I also had to go around the car and stop in a terrible spot so I could get my 5-year-old out of his car seat and safely to the door. During this time, a gentleman parked in the handicap spot (Note: no handicap sign & NOT a handicap student) was grumbling and honking at me. I told the teacher outside this was chaos. She said: “Report it.”
I called the Mallett office and was told they have sent notes home to parents, made announcements to move cars and reported to police to no avail. The unattended car was still parked in the middle of the road when I left. Why would anyone leave their car in the middle of the drive and go into the school for 15+ minutes during such a busy time?
Let’s try to come up with some proactive solutions to this problem before someone is hurt. Some thoughts..
- Recruit some safety volunteers (parents or community members) to greet cars and escort students to door
- Switch bus area and drop off area, cars move single file, student dropped in the circle and car continues. No parking
- Improve traffic flow and parking area.
As a taxpayer, I don’t understand why this wasn’t addressed when the new school was designed and built. I dread Wednesday mornings and I pray that no students are ever hurt!
Charlotte Woodcock
Farmington
Charlotte-you are absolutely correct. I complained a few years ago and the answer I received “was that these schools were not built to accomodate so many children being dropped off by parents. Put them on a bus”. Cascade is just as bad and middle school is close behind. Good luck. I hope your voice finally gets heard. Mine didn’t.
Couldn’t agree more, i used to dread pulling into that school everyday! The only thing that made if fun sometimes was when i was able to park my V8 truck in the “reserved for fuel efficient cars” spot.
Cars were always double and sometimes tripled parked, its been a mess from day one.
I just want to be clear that this is NOT just a late start problem. It is every day of the week. Thank you
What a terrible way to start the day! All of the letter writer’s suggestions are viable.
My kids have been out of school for a number of years now. I honestly am amazed at the number of parents that take their kids to school in private cars these days. It is true that schools are designed for bus drop off and pick up. I know there are always reasons that parents may need to drop their children off from time to time, but I think it is done too often now. I realize things change over the years but I don’t think they have changed that much in the 10 years my kids have been out of school. I could be wrong.
I’ve heard these complaints a lot, and almost all from people who CHOOSE to drive to drop off and pick up. In nearly every instance, the people complaining are people who have decided that spending 20 minutes battling the traffic of other parents in line is somehow superior to their kid spending 15-20 minutes on a school bus.
Here are some additional suggestions:
*Make use of the school bus service provided by the district. It is a safe, reasonable option that will save you the cost of gas and wear on your vehicle.
*Park at the Community Center and walk over to the school. There is an incredibly helpful crossing guard who will even help you to safely cross Middle Street.
*Park on a nearby street and use the sidewalks/crosswalks to walk over to the school.
*Arrange a kiddie carpool. Take turns with neighbors/friends.
And most of all, please don’t be the self-entitled jerk who decides to park on the sidewalk, making young families have to walk in the traffic lane just to leave the school grounds.
To “you are the problem”
My grandchildren don’t have a bus option on late arrival days as their parents are both teachers
I have the 3 grandchildren on these days and I go to three different schools with them. Late arrivals must be an issue for many!
The “additional suggestions” are great! Seems like the schools could have more authority than what is being shown in this matter. Which is it…? Don’t have any more power than to say “Report it” or don’t care?
Take the bus, late arrival Wednesday is RSU 9 wide it’s not just a Mallett school thing, the buses still run only an hour ahead. So if your kid gets on at 6:22 normally they will get on at 7:22, if you think your kid too good for the bus then that’s on you. Or drive to a spot where the bus does stop for kids and drop them off there and they can get on the bus with them. Pretty simple stuff, really. Quit making mountains out of mole hills.
No late arrival,no problem.Simple fix.
What is the purpose of a one hour late arrival anyway? To disrupt everyone’s life so teachers that endure such a grueling work schedule can catch their breath? It’s about as stupid and selfish as early release days and workshop days. It is important to teach structure to children but obviously the administration is struggling with that!
If you are not happy with the answers from the Mallett School, take your concerns to the school board.
@Mike…The little darlings CAN’T take the bus..Oh, the horror. Wait till some of these kids get in the real world..It ain’t gonna be pretty.
“You are the problem”…. the bus options are not a great option for all families and students. My 9 year old would need to get on a bus at the end of an intown road and across a busy street. Additionally, the bus services, while physically safe and mostly efficient, are filled with many many other risks. The conversations, words, activites, bullying, etc that happen on the buses are enough for me to decide to filter my children and commute them.
Back to the main issue…… the drop off and parking at Mallet is and has always been horrible with this new school design. Yes, there may be other options for parking further away and walking, but there needs to be a much better option in order to do drop off. This seems to be a recurring issue for Mallett and is also a HUGE issue during pick up at end of day for Cascade and Middle where there are NO park further away options.
Oh my Farmington Mom!!! I had no idea there were conversations and words on the school bus. Had I known I would have driven my climate changing truck to school twice a day…Seriously, like Kee stated, wait till these kids get in the real world that will always have conversations and words. Even some bad ones!
Farmington Mom said, “Yes, there may be other options for parking further away and walking, but ……..”
Translation is that Farmington Mom doesn’t “WANT” the other options.. There are options, BUT….
So,, if you don’t want to play ball,, why should anyone else?
Park and Walk a very short distance for goodness sakes.
Farmington Mom, RSU 9 nor the other taxpayers have to accommodate you or anybody else because you want to raise snowflakes. Kids need to interact with each other in order to learn how to deal with the good and the bad in life. In my experience of shool life, it was always the kids whose parents sheltered them who got picked on the most, you aren’t doing them any favors by trying to protect them from a reality that sooner rather than later will slap them in the face. But it’s a free country, you can raise your kids however you see fit, the county provides buses, that is the extent of the help they have to offer you.
What was originally stated is not the fact people drop off their kids at Mallet School but the complete and total lack of courtesy and common sense shown by many of the parents dropping off their kids or picking them up. I have seen people speeding thru the drop off area and around the school. Been tailgated and yelled at because I am going 10 to 15 mph thru there. I have seen a mother run into by a large jeep lucky it was mom and not her 1st grader. I have seen mothers jump out leaving there doors hanging open as they rush to get the kids out of the car while the little darlings have to find there back packs and lunches and such. And the classic every one is double parked or even triple parked on the school side(right) and some wonderful person decides to double park on the left barely leaving enough room for cars to weave thru. So now people are trying not to hit the parked cars as well as kids. And lets address parking else where and walking. The street where the old school faced is now so crowded because people park on both sides of the street you are forced to take turns proceeding down the street. I personally agree the school was designed with buss transportation in mind not mom and dad dropping off kids. I also question whether the drop off pick up area and the buss circle should be switched or another parking lot added on the physical site of the old Mallet school and the fences moved closer to the play ground.
Its absurd how some people behave there. Where does anyone get the idea it’s ok to double park anyway? A simple solution would be to have drop off occur at the crosswalk by the gymnasium and not allow parents to wall their children to class. Almost all the children are capable of getting to class on their own and the ones that cant could be the exception. Parents would simply wait in line and drop off their children at the gymnasium entrance. Problem solved. What goes on there at pickup and dropoff is pathetic and parents should be ashamed.
It’s simple. Dont let parents escort their children into their class. Have dropoff occur at the gymnasium entrance. The only parents that should be allowed to escort their children to class should be the ones who’s children need it. I’m astounded anyone thinks it is acceptable to park someone in and wall away.
I dropped my sons off at school via my own car because the bus route didn’t fit with my work schedule. It isn’t a sense of entitlement or thinking my kids were too good for the bus, it was simple logistics. And if you are going to make snarky comments on this site, I would challenge you to use your full name. It’s easy to sit behind a computer screen and judge everyone else – it takes a lot more integrity to put a name behind what you are saying- especially when it’s designed to make other people feel bad.
Lorri,
The Bulldog would be downright boring if they required identification.
If the shoe does not fit, dont wear it.
If it does,,,try to learn from it.
No one wants this chaos at the school.
It “is” dangerous” (I did it once and it was nerve wracking).
Some great suggestions have come forth (from anonymous commenters).
Some of the complainers are clearly part of the problem and refusing to make any changes (park and walk one minute to the school).
If that’s not you,,,great.
Safety is “Everyones Personal Responsibility” (No One Elses).
Stay Safe Today !!
The kids deserve this…
Early release days are not needed. They have created headaches and problems from the start. Late start days are doing the same. The original purpose is now no longer there.Go back to 5 days all starting the same and ending the same and most everyone will be happier, except maybe a few of the staff! If parents are acting as some are stating above, no wonder the staff is faced with so many behavioral problems from some students.