Hart-Ransom School looking to fix pickup, parking issues

Traffic problems at drop-off and pickup times at Hart-Ransom Elementary School have prompted a study of traffic flow patterns on campus. Two town hall meetings are set for Tuesday to get parents’ input.

“The goal of this study is to determine how our current procedures for vehicle traffic flow, parking, and student loading zones may be improved for student safety and the ability of vehicles to enter and exit the campus as efficiently as possible,” notes a Hart-Ransom flier.

The flier went home with students and a robocall will go out to families and staff, noted Superintendent Matthew Shipley.

All schools have traffic flow problems at key times, but Hart-Ransom has additional challenges and a planned construction project will make it worse, Shipley said by email.

“First, 45 percent of the 800 students at Hart-Ransom Elementary School attend the school on interdistrict transfer agreements, which is an indication that we have a great and desirable school, but it also means that those families are typically driving their children to school each day in their personal vehicles,” he wrote.

The district has been unable to fill bus driver positions, he said, and “As a result of this bus driver shortage, some of the bus routes have to run late, and some of the affected families have chosen to drive their children to school instead.”

Being a rural school, he said, students live farther away and parents who accompany their children to school or volunteer during the day all drive.

The goal is to have a traffic plan in place in August when the new school year begins, Shipley said.

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Hart-Ransom School looking to fix pickup, parking issues."