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| Ontario School Council Network |
| Topics of Requested Assistance |
| Elementary or Secondary School |
| Traffic or Parking Issues |
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| This page created on November 13, 2003. |
| This page updated on December 8, 2003. |
| "We have been working very hard at our school to provide a safe enviroment for our kids getting to and from our school. So we have made some changes with regards to our traffic and parking issue. Most parents have been very supportive in our endeavour however, we have some parents that just won't cooperate with us. Here is what we have done so far... we have made our parking lot staff only, blocked off the front of the school and made it a no stop/no parking zone, and have placed a parent volunteer in the cross walk to help kids and parents get across the road safely. We have drivers that are not paying attention to the signage that already exist and myself and other volunteers have had some very near misses. Our Councillor has been present at our traffic meetings and have been helpful to a point. So far the Board is limited to what they can do as well as the city. So (finally) my question to you: What else can we do to make them (parents) think about what it is they are doing and or not doing and make them responsible for their actions or lack there of? Do other School Councils have difficulties with traffic and/or parking at your schools? What have you done to successfully solve your traffic/parking problems?" |
| Can you help this School Council member? If it helps in your response this school is located in southwestern Ontario and is an elementary school. If enough responses are received from the secondary school point of view a seperate page can be made for those suggestions. Please, email your comments/suggestions of assistance and they will be sent to this member and included on this page. |
| Response: Hamilton-Wentworth DSB |
| "First, you get the principal to send a note home with every student warning parents that tickets will be issued to drivers who disobey the municipal parking and traffic by-laws. Then you borrow someone's video camera and record some violations to bolster your case and provide by-law enforcement officers with evidence of your traffic safety concerns and a reason to drop by. Then you call your local parking authority or by-law enforcement department to request an officer be on hand during the period in question to write tickets and hand them out to the violators. After a few days of $75 dollar tickets being handed out, inconsiderate drivers soon learn to abide by the law. It worked like a charm at my particular school when residents driveways where being blocked and arrogant drivers kept parking in the school bus zones because they were too lazy to walk ten or twenty feet to pick up and drop off their children." |
| Response: Toronto DSB |
| "We are currently starting a program that is already in our community it is called Road Watch. Anyone who witnesses someone driving badly can pick up a incident report at our school and fill out the form and drop it off at the noted drop boxes. The owner of the vehicle is then sent a letter from the police noted what they were seen doing. It has been very effective in other communities and you can also borrow a radar message board so that parents are aware of their speed. Here is the web site. If it is not in your community then they will tell you how too. http://www.roadwatch.ca/home.htm Check out the Citizen Report Form. We had the police do a presentation to our School Council and we are in the process of having the Citizen Report Cards sent home to all the parents with a letter explaining that people will be held accountable for their unsafe driving actions. Good Luck!!" |
| Response: Hamilton-Wentworth DSB |
| "I sympathize with your situation and have been through exactly the same scenario at an elementary school in Hamilton (HWDSB). We had struggled with this situation for years at a school with concerned parents and an active School Council. We tried everything you had listed including special notices to parents, surveys, parent volunteers at the front of the school, information in newsletters, etc. Nothing seemed to work for the minority of parents who knew better but didn't seem to care about the safety of the kids, parents and staff crossing to the front entrance of the school. In the end, the situation only got better when the entire front area of the school was made a no stopping/no loading zone and cars were ticketed by law enforcement officers, as was suggested in the response by the HWDSB. The Principal sent a note home with every student warning parents that tickets will be issued to drivers who disobey the municipal parking and traffic by-laws. All parents were told in advance. Then when a violation took place, the Principal called the local parking authority or by-law enforcement department. In the beginning, we pointed to the signs and gave verbal warning, and then we requested an officer be on hand during the period in question to write tickets and hand them out to the violators. It worked very well and kept drivers away from parking in the school bus zones as well. Where concern for safety and good common sense failed, going for the pocket book/wallet worked!" |
| Response: Windsor-Essex DSB |
| "At (school) in Windsor we also face the parking/stopping problem. We did the tickets, with little success. Now we are trying a large A sign. It basically states the parents are here for the kids' safety, so no parking or stopping. We have several parents at the school gates enforcing the issue. Will keep you posted on our progress." Update: "It is working as long as there is a parent or teacher outside. Some parents I do not think will ever get it." |