Greetings,
I want to update all members of our community on the recent parent and student meetings that were held to discuss pedestrian and traffic safety in the Mannion Middle School Community.
On Thursday, November 15, a parent meeting took place to hear concerns from those that have witnessed both violations by pedestrians, students on bikes, or cars that drop off and pick up at Mannion. Parents have witnessed students playing chicken in the road, driving into oncoming traffic, and not stopping at intersections to look for cars. Parents also shared stories of drivers consistently making U turns in school zones, stopping in the crosswalk to drop off a child, and driving out of the school driveway in the left lane and not waiting for their turn to pull out.
On Friday, November 16, a presentation was provided to almost all students via their elective course, health course, computer course, or PE course. The purpose of the presentation, provided by CCSD’s Safe Routes to School, was to remind all students about bike and pedestrian safety. Topics included many of those that were brought up by parents that attended the meeting on the 15th.
Going forward, Mannion Middle School will enforce students making responsible decisions while travelling to and from school. Information brought to our attention about students playing chicken with cars, racing cars, or running into the street will be addressed. Parents that witness unsafe behavior by students or parents may report incidents to SafeVoice. This system is available via a link at the bottom of the school’s website or by CLICKING HERE and is also an app that can be downloaded to a smart phone. This information is shared not only with the school’s administration, but also CCSD and Henderson Police. It provides an immediate “conversation” with the Department of Public Safety to provide sufficient information to identify those that jeopardize student safety surrounding our schools.
We will also partner with CCSD Police and Henderson Police to increase their presence and ticket activity by drivers that include speeding, not stopping at the crosswalk, and making illegal U turns. We will also be working with the City of Henderson’s Traffic Engineer to improve and increase signage surrounding our school as well as repaint markings for crosswalks, lanes, and stops.
As we learned today, “the car always wins, but the car is not always right.” Traffic and pedestrian safety will continue to be a topic at all future Parent Community Partnership Meetings and our next meeting will be held on December 13, 2018. I hope you will be there to further our discussion and build a community where safety is the number one priority.
On behalf of the entire Mannion Middle School staff, I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Gobble Gobble!
Todd C. Petersen, Principal
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