The issues revolving around school pickups and the congestion of traffic at Macon County schools, especially at Fairlane and the high school, are no secret, but Macon County Director of Schools Shawn Carter is sharing some advice and insight for the current situations and for the future elementary school that will be built soon.
“This is no different than it has been every other year,†said Carter. “You have a school with two grades and a lot of parents of those students are first time parents, and it takes awhile for them to get used to things. I know it seems that we are far enough into the beginning of the year, but we stagger our kindergarten kids that are coming in, so this is really only the second week of them all being there at the same time. It’s just a matter of getting it all sorted out. Fairlane is no more crowded than it was last year and like I said, it will just take parents, especially the new ones, a bit of time to understand the procedures.â€
Carter said his advice “would be to not get in line to pick up your child until it’s actually time for school to be out.â€
“I think many parents would line up at 1:30 if we let them,†he said. “The city usually calls me every year about it, and I have finally said that they have to do what they have to do. I’m not against people picking their children up. In fact, it helps because if all the kids rode buses, we would be struggling to find drivers to handle all the routes. I don’t want anyone to get a ticket, but that is not in my control. The city decides that. We have asked parents not to come so early, but every year they begin lining up way before time for pickup. There is just no reason for them to be in line before 3 p.m. The lines would run smoothly if parents would wait until school lets out to arrive for pickup. As a parent, I wouldn’t show up until around 3:15 when everyone is mostly gone. The kids will be safe from the weather and supervised by teachers inside the building until that time. Fairlane is a unique area where there isn’t a big parking lot. It only faces one small roadway. When that school was built, kids rode the bus. Parents didn’t drop their kids off and pick them up like they do now. Honestly, none of the schools were designed for parents to pick up in the volume that they do. Now when schools are designed there is something called ‘stack space’ where people can park off the main road and not cause backup in traffic.â€
There is also another factor that Carter says is against early pickup.
“Homeland Security doesn’t want us letting people on the premises until right before 3 p.m.,†said Carter. “I know there are some people who will say things like ‘Well he can’t tell me what to do’, but truly, by the time you arrive early and wait in line all that time you won’t really beat the clock anymore than if you just wait until 3 p.m. or a bit longer to pick them up. It isn’t just about congestion; it is a real safety concern as well. If an emergency does arise, it would create a problem for emergency personnel to gain access to our buildings. We just want what is best for everyone, and that is the bottom line.â€
Carter says that the new elementary school has been designed to handle this issue once built.
“We have a great deal of stack space to get people off of Hwy. 52 where the new school will be,†said Carter. “Where the school will be, there will be multiple lanes in and out of the area. Buses will use a different route so there will be no competition between parents picking up and dropping off their kids. There was a traffic study done early on and the new school has been designed to handle that.â€
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