Crossing guards are positioned where there is a marked school crossing, New Hanover County school system officials said after checking with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.
“Parsley (Elementary) has two marked crossings because there are neighborhoods directly across the street from the school that have a large number of children that walk to school from those neighborhoods,” said Rick Holliday, the system’s assistant superintendent for support services. “The situation is similar at Laney/Trask where there is a large neighborhood directly across from those two schools that have a number of school children who walk to school and must cross there.”
Holliday said that as he understood from talking with the sheriff’s office, children do not routinely cross the street in front of Myrtle Grove Middle School.
“If it is unsafe for children to walk to school — no sidewalks, busy highway — the DOT will not allow us to establish a school crossing,” he said, adding that traffic has been a problem and efforts have been made by the school system and sheriff’s office to rework the pick-up and drop-off lines for buses and parents.
He said the school system would continue to work with the sheriff’s office to find solutions for the traffic issues at Myrtle Grove.
Date posted: August 26, 2010
User-contributed question by:
Joann Walters
If any school needs more help it’s Winter Park Elementary. It’s the smallest school, on the smallest amount of land on one of the busiest “cut thru” streets. Everyday I sit in a line backed down MacMillian, down Park Ave, down Wrightsville Ave for 45 mins. There is nowhere other than the side of the road for parents to park while waiting for their kids to be released. The school has as good of a plan as it’ll be able to come up with. I sit there in my car as far off the road as possible watching and counting as an endless number of cars fly past in the other lane dodging cars, and kids all to save a few mins of time. When asked why the City doesn’t help, their reply was to take away the already small school play yard and put in a round about for car pick up. Why can’t this little side street that’s only used as a cut thru to avoid College Rd be shut down everyday from 2:15-2:45? That would give us ample time to get the kids out and in their parents cars, or across the street to walk home SAFELY. Two policemen could sit in their cars down one of the side streets that bump into MacMillian and have a field day issuing tickets. After all.. isn’t it illegal to cross a double yellow line? How about speeding in a school zone?Those tickets have to be worth something in police-land. If nothing else.. the safety of the kids should be worth something.
I can truly say they need all the help they can get at Parsley. My husband and I were both crossing guards and we would have to stop traffic for the kids and take a chance with out lives. It is a speedway. Also 3 Senior high busses would stop with their stop flags out and cars kept flying by until it got to the point we had to help stop the cars for them…GOD BLESS AND GOOD LUCK
My suggestion to all the parents would be to use the convenient bus the school district provides.
Holly Tree only has a sheriff in the morning, not in the afternoons. There needs to be one in the afternoon as well since there is the same amount if not more vehicles then. With the long line of cars waiting to pick up their child, it is VERY hard to see around that long line. I have seen many near wrecks and have almost been hit myself.
Murrayville could also use a sheriff after school. We have one directing traffic in the morning, but the afternoon is a free-for-all.
My husband and I used to be crossing guards at Parsley and believe me you need them…The traffic is horrendous and you take your life in your hands when you step out to stop traffic. I have had to walk out when a school bus was stopped with the stop sign because drivers were speeding past even though her stop flag was out. These are great kids but some of the drivers are in a hurry to get to work and don’t care