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Flashing lights, patrol, short term solutions near FAE
By By Alica P. Thiele
Challenger reporter
Challenger reporter
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EmailSeptember 22. 2009 6:00AM
A variety of agencies will work together to improve short-term safety for children who walk to Fred Assam Elementary, officials decided at a meeting Wednesday. But the agencies were at odds over long-term solutions.
Officials from Brandon Valley schools, Brandon Police, Sioux Falls Police, Minnehaha County Sheriff, Minnehaha County Commissioners and the City of Sioux Falls met at FAE in response to parents’ concerns. Parents from the Pine Lake Hills and Mystic Meadows neighborhoods have said the walk along Six Mile Road, from their homes to the school, is unsafe.
“The drivers and the children have no room for error,” Jan Lee said. She and Cameo Anders represented parents at the meeting.
This is Fred Assam Elementary’s first year, and neighbors worry that motorists won’t slow down. The county has lowered the speed limit from 45 to 35 along the residential areas, and the school zone is posted at 15 mph. Signs mark the speed limits, and the school zone signs have flags on them to make them more visible.
Officials talked Wednesday of adding flashing lights to the signs, similar to the flashing lights used near schools in Brandon. BV Superintendent Dave Pappone said the school district would pay for half the cost of flashing lights.
Anders said she would be willing to recruit parent volunteers to be crossing guards, a task at least one parent already has done. Pappone said the district would supply reflective crossing guard vests.
Lt. Jerome Miller of the Sioux Falls Police Department said his agency and the County Sheriff’s office would have an officer at the school the beginning and end of each day for three weeks to monitor traffic. The agencies will keep statistics on citations written and other data.
Miller said he suspects most drivers along that road during those times of day are regulars and that after three weeks of a law enforcement presence, they’ll be conditioned to slow down near the school.
“And that’s what we’re looking for,” he said.
Bob Meister of the Minnehaha County Highway Department said that as winter approaches, fewer and fewer children would walk to school anyway.
Pappone offered parents one other quick-fix solution: Pay to have their children bused to school.
State law requires schools to bus students who live five or more miles from their school. Brandon Valley has chosen to bus students who live as near as 1.5 miles. Pine Lake Hills is just under a half mile to Fred Assam Elementary, and Mystic Meadows is only a few hundred feet.
The district charges $50 per student per semester to ride the bus for those not eligible for free busing, with a maximum of $125 per family per semester. A family with three grade-school-aged children, such as Lee’s, would end up paying $250 for the whole school year. Pappone said 700 people in Brandon and Valley Springs pay to have their children bused.
Lee and her husband drive their children to school, but Lee said she otherwise would be willing to pay the fee. She still is concerned about the safety of her neighbors’ children, she said. She and Anders, along with other parents, are looking for more long-term solutions, she said.
Ideally, the parents want a walking path along Six Mile Road from their neighborhoods to the school entrance. But that could be tricky, officials said. The school is in the Sioux Falls city limits, but Six Mile Road is under county jurisdiction. The school district has no jurisdiction off school property.
County Commissioner Dick Kelley said the school should have alerted the county to the problem months ago. Pappone said the school district didn’t think there would be a problem, until parents approached the board in late August to voice concerns.
“The county didn’t create this problem and the city didn’t create this problem,” Meister said. “I think the parents have an obligation to get their kids safely to school.”
County Commissioner Carol Twedt said the county hasn’t built sidewalks or walking paths in any other part of the county, including near schools. She doesn’t want the county to set a precedent, she said. But the county would consider paying the full amount of the flashing beacons if the school would pay for a walking path, she said.
Meister said the county would gladly give the school an easement to build the path.
Pappone said the BV school board will consider this option at an upcoming board meeting.
The larger group of school, city, county and law enforcement agreed to meet at Fred Assam Elementary again at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30.
Officials from Brandon Valley schools, Brandon Police, Sioux Falls Police, Minnehaha County Sheriff, Minnehaha County Commissioners and the City of Sioux Falls met at FAE in response to parents’ concerns. Parents from the Pine Lake Hills and Mystic Meadows neighborhoods have said the walk along Six Mile Road, from their homes to the school, is unsafe.
“The drivers and the children have no room for error,” Jan Lee said. She and Cameo Anders represented parents at the meeting.
This is Fred Assam Elementary’s first year, and neighbors worry that motorists won’t slow down. The county has lowered the speed limit from 45 to 35 along the residential areas, and the school zone is posted at 15 mph. Signs mark the speed limits, and the school zone signs have flags on them to make them more visible.
Officials talked Wednesday of adding flashing lights to the signs, similar to the flashing lights used near schools in Brandon. BV Superintendent Dave Pappone said the school district would pay for half the cost of flashing lights.
Anders said she would be willing to recruit parent volunteers to be crossing guards, a task at least one parent already has done. Pappone said the district would supply reflective crossing guard vests.
Lt. Jerome Miller of the Sioux Falls Police Department said his agency and the County Sheriff’s office would have an officer at the school the beginning and end of each day for three weeks to monitor traffic. The agencies will keep statistics on citations written and other data.
Miller said he suspects most drivers along that road during those times of day are regulars and that after three weeks of a law enforcement presence, they’ll be conditioned to slow down near the school.
“And that’s what we’re looking for,” he said.
Bob Meister of the Minnehaha County Highway Department said that as winter approaches, fewer and fewer children would walk to school anyway.
Pappone offered parents one other quick-fix solution: Pay to have their children bused to school.
State law requires schools to bus students who live five or more miles from their school. Brandon Valley has chosen to bus students who live as near as 1.5 miles. Pine Lake Hills is just under a half mile to Fred Assam Elementary, and Mystic Meadows is only a few hundred feet.
The district charges $50 per student per semester to ride the bus for those not eligible for free busing, with a maximum of $125 per family per semester. A family with three grade-school-aged children, such as Lee’s, would end up paying $250 for the whole school year. Pappone said 700 people in Brandon and Valley Springs pay to have their children bused.
Lee and her husband drive their children to school, but Lee said she otherwise would be willing to pay the fee. She still is concerned about the safety of her neighbors’ children, she said. She and Anders, along with other parents, are looking for more long-term solutions, she said.
Ideally, the parents want a walking path along Six Mile Road from their neighborhoods to the school entrance. But that could be tricky, officials said. The school is in the Sioux Falls city limits, but Six Mile Road is under county jurisdiction. The school district has no jurisdiction off school property.
County Commissioner Dick Kelley said the school should have alerted the county to the problem months ago. Pappone said the school district didn’t think there would be a problem, until parents approached the board in late August to voice concerns.
“The county didn’t create this problem and the city didn’t create this problem,” Meister said. “I think the parents have an obligation to get their kids safely to school.”
County Commissioner Carol Twedt said the county hasn’t built sidewalks or walking paths in any other part of the county, including near schools. She doesn’t want the county to set a precedent, she said. But the county would consider paying the full amount of the flashing beacons if the school would pay for a walking path, she said.
Meister said the county would gladly give the school an easement to build the path.
Pappone said the BV school board will consider this option at an upcoming board meeting.
The larger group of school, city, county and law enforcement agreed to meet at Fred Assam Elementary again at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30.
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A truck goes into the far lane to avoid the children of Doug and Jan Lee on Six Mile Road. Doug Lee took the picture to illustrate the possible perils his and other children could face while walking to and from Fred Assam Elementary School. The Brandon Valley School District is looking into ways to make the walk between the school and neighboring homes safer. Submitted photo |  |
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