Parent pick-up of students creates issue at King Middle, Manatee County schools

BRADENTON -- It's a problem faced over and over again at Manatee County schools.

Parents are not using designated school pick-up zones when transporting students, instead opting to park on side streets or in nearby neighborhood -- hoping to avoid sitting in line and get back on the road faster.

School officials say that puts students at a safety risk, creates more traffic problems and heightens tensions between those who live in the area and are dealing with the influx of cars on private roads and the school community.

Manatee County School District officials deal with traffic issues every year. The latest is at King Middle, where residents in the nearby Indian Springs community are upset about parents parking in the cul-de-sac at Fourth Avenue Drive Northwest and students walking through a passway from the school on 75th Street Northwest.

"This becomes a safety issue for us," said resident Marlene Maloney. "Ambulances, fire trucks, they can't get in."

In addition, trash is left in the area, and sometimes residents have trouble getting in their driveway because of traffic from the pick-ups.

On Wednesday, King Middle School Principal Michele Romeo met with residents to talk about what the school can do to ease the problem. County Commissioner John

Chappie, who represents that area, attended with other district officials and the school resource officer, a deputy in the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

In addition to trying to fix the problem in the cul-de-sac in Indian Springs, the school is hoping the county will approval more no parking signs along 75th Street Northwest, between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue. No parking signs run along 75th in front of the school but not in that specific section, and cars are starting to stack up there, which becomes unsafe, critics say.

"I want to keep students safe," Romeo said. "This is my concern."

It was a concern all parties could agree on Wednesday.

Amy Anderson, school district facilities, sites and planning manager, said the issue is not contained to King. The district is working on similar issues at McNeal, Palma Sola, Stewart and Bayshore elementary schools.

Solving the problems takes residents coming forward with their issues and collaboration between the school district, county or city officials and local law enforcement agencies. Each summer, officials walk through the school sites to make sure nothing has changed and make improvement where necessary.

Some older schools weren't built with enough space in the pick-up section to accommodate all the parents now transporting students, Anderson said. Congestion in pick-up areas drives parents to side streets and elsewhere.

Different procedures and protocols schools have adopted have helped pick-up lines move faster. Romeo estimates students in pick-up lines at King are in and out within 10 minutes of the final bell at the end of the day.

"We really pride ourselves in moving kids through," she said.

To help address the Indian Springs issues, the school plans to send a note to parents early next week, reinforcing students should be picked up in the line -- not somewhere else.

About a week after the letter goes out, the school will station a staff member or the school resource officer in the pathway and not allow students through. According to school records, no children who live in Indian Springs need to walk through the area.

Once parents learn their students cannot walk through the pathway, the hope is it will force them into the pick-up line instead.

Chappie and residents said they would look into what it would take to potentially put a gate up there, although residents said they have asked the county for help before and weren't able to get answers.

Some residents do use the pathway for morning walks or when they take out their dogs, so a gate may not be the best solution either. But it would help curb the problem with the students walking through the area.

At the end of the meeting, Roger Comer, the homeowner association president, seemed pleased with the progress and the school plan to inform the parents and put a staff member there and stop the students from walking through the area.

"I think this will stop the flow," he said.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 11:08 PM with the headline "Parent pick-up of students creates issue at King Middle, Manatee County schools ."