By LINDSAY LORENZ, Register Staff Writer
Gainesville Daily Register
Callisburg —
Parents in Callisburg Independent School District looking to personally transport their students to and from school now have new guidelines to follow.
Whereas in the past parents could simply park their cars and escort students to and from the building, they are now required to stay in their vehicles and proceed through drop-off and pick-up lines.
“It’s just a safety issue,” said Callisburg ISD Superintendent Charles Holloway, explaining that administrators want to make sure the right person takes home the right student.
Parents were informed of the new policy through fliers and during student orientations.
Under the guidelines, parents receive signs that say which students they’re picking up and what grade they’re in. The signs hang in the windshield and when the car pulls up, a teacher directs students to their vehicles, making sure they’re buckled or helping them into a car seat, Holloway said.
The policy affects mostly elementary school students, about 150 of who are dropped off or picked up from the front of the school each day.
About a week into the new policy, Holloway said procedures are going “pretty smooth.” Students know where they’re supposed to wait to be picked up and parents are following the rules. However, that doesn’t mean parents like the rules.
Holloway said he’s received about three phone calls regarding the policy and more than a dozen parents are expected to address it during tonight’s school board meeting.
One of those parents, Devin Warr, said traffic delays resulting from the policy are doing more harm than good.
Warr said she’s walked her son in and out of the building for the last two years without any issues. But this year, she shows up around 2:45 p.m., 45 minutes early, to line up behind anywhere from eight to 20 cars, and wait in a line that’s lasted as late as 4:10 p.m., she said. Overflowing traffic onto the road, she said, also makes it difficult to see and that she’s almost been hit about three times.
“The school policy puts a damper on parents who have routines,” she said.
Warr said the extra time it takes to pick her son up leaves less time for the two to do homework together and get ready for football practice around 5 p.m.
“(Cars) get backed up sometimes, but it’s no different than at the Gainesville schools,” Holloway said.
A similar policy is in place at Lee Intermediate, Chalmers Elementary and Edison Elementary schools in GISD.
Holloway said there wasn’t any particular incident that prompted the policy change, rather it was just time to update security measures. The district has also added security cameras to its buildings this year.
Holloway expects that as the year progresses more students will take the bus to school to avoid both the traffic and the wait time.
Tonight’s regular school board meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., in the Callisburg Elementary library.
