Likened to a 'valet escort service,' School Committee members say the the drop-off, pick-up system for Stanley Elementary School students has created serious traffic hazards.
Superintendent Susan Parrella told the board last night she received a letter from George Veins, president of the Waltham Educators Association, calling for an immediate change at the school.
"I had a conversation with him earlier this year about the amount of time it takes to put students in cars," Parrella said. "We're paying a lot of money for buses that are running pretty empty."
The March 3 letter, describes "pick-up duty" at the school as "a valet escort service" that "needs to be stopped as soon as possible."
Waltham Police Safety Officer Ann Frassica said, research indicates 41 percent of Stanley Elementary School students eligible to take the bus are instead being picked up and dropped off by parents or relatives.
Frassica said students are picked up at the end of a sidewalk that runs in front of the school. That sidewalk is adjacent to the school's bus lane.
"The problem is the teachers are crossing the students as cars pull up in the parent pick-up lane, which is the next lane over," she said. "The teachers are crossing them across the bus lane as buses and vans are showing up at the school."
Frassica said parents and students use a number system to pick-up and drop-off students. Both parents and students show staff members a particular number on a small card. Staff then direct students to the appropriate car upon dismissal.
School Committee member Stephen Rando said school officials have documented 20 cases this year in which students were "near misses" from being hit by cars.
"We can't have an accident here," he said. "It's a very dangerous situation...something's got to be done about it."
Frassica maintains the teachers and staff are responsible considering the system the school uses.
"The staff really does make the system work," she said. "Each school has pick-up and drop-off obstacles, but it is the faculty that pulls it all together...that goes with all schools in the city."
Stanley Principal Marcia Pertuz said the school's council, which is made up of parents and teachers, is currently looking at ways to solve this problem, having recently collected data from surveys.
Frassica said one possible solution would be moving the pick-up and drop-off area to Nipper Maher Park, across the street from the school.
"It would remove parent pick-up and drop-off from the property," she said. "Staff would walk kids to Nipper Maher Park, and make sure parents are there to pick them up at the end of the school day and if a parent was not there, they would bring them back to school."
The School Committee voted to have Frassica and members of the Stanley School Council continue meeting and report their findings in the near future.
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com
