Why Isn't the Administration On the Job?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where Your Money Is Going, Show Up To Next Board M...":

If security guards are needed to implement the safe arrival and dismissal of Mattlin students, this is an expense that needs to be undertaken.

It also brings up the question: is additional staffing necessary for other car pool lines in our district as well?

Safety at arrival and dismissal time is a bonafide concern. It was said at the BOE that the needed security at Mattlin was because of "one parent not following directions."

Was this really about ONE parent who is a bad egg or is the current system of how they are doing things truly working?

Last winter there was a big changeover at Stratford Road arrival and dismissal car pool line. This change incorporated (1) staff monitoring of children getting in and out of cars in the morning and afternoon and (2) the elimination buses from the same area as passenger cars. Kids as young as 5 year old were being let out from school to find their parents without any supervision (other than other parents who happened to be there waiting for their own kids.) Parent vehicles and buses had uncomfortably close near-collisions. How could this go on? Why would the district not be overseeing this in general and not realize that Stratford was the only building that this was happening?

Stratford building administration did not take any initiative to fix things despite repeated concerns by the parent community. Ultimately parent pressure as well as input from Transportation created changes for a safer arrival and pickup.

While an unstructured, unregulated "anything goes" policy might work (more or less)when there are 20 cars dropping off kids it might NOT work anymore when there are 21 or more cars in the same area at the same time.

Arrivals and dismissals at all district schools should have a plan that has is checked several times a year by the district safety officer to ensure that arrival and pickup at all buildings are orderly and safe.

It's pretty easy to NOT know what to do at arrival or pickup at most schools in our district. Unless you've done it before and know what to do, the signage and "unwritten" rules of how things work are not clear.

Information regarding the appropriate pick up and drop off system for each school (they are all different) is not accessible on the district website. It should be. Signage should be improved.

The more you tell people what to do, the better chance you have of them doing the right thing.

What sort of role models are we being if we are bringing and picking up our kids to and from school in chaos? Once kids enter school property there should be order and regulation. If the car pool is a free-for-all, the kids will believe school is a free-for-all.


Final Thought:
It shouldn't be up to parents to be constantly policing our school district, telling administration ot the BOE when things aren't working. Administration should be "on the job" ever vigilant, making necessary adjustments, being responsible for shortcomings as well as successes. That's what good managers do. The budget shows our community to be paying administrators generous salaries commensurate with top managers in other fields. It's time to get our money's worth.