Traffic plan promised for Harmony parents
MILTON — Harmony Elementary School students gained a partial victory at the Milton School Board meeting Monday night.
Students living north of Highway 14 and east of Highway 26 will still lose their busing Oct. 6, but the district agreed to work with parents on a traffic plan to accommodate the increased number of parents who will be dropping off their children.
The Milton School Board voted 4-2 Monday to end the busing. Bob Cullen and Wilson Leong opposed, and Jon Cruzan was absent.
The board first discussed the idea in June. Janesville is installing sidewalks on Rotamer Road this summer, and the board feels it is now safe for children who live less than 2 miles from the school to walk.
A handful of students in that area live more than 2 miles from school, and they will still receive bus service.
But several parents at Monday’s meeting said they would not allow their children to walk to school.
The district anticipated that and created a traffic plan to handle the increase in vehicles dropping off students. Superintendent Bernie Nikolay recommended requiring parents to drop off their children at one of three drop-off points: the northwest and southeast corners of Rotamer Road and Galaxy Drive and the northwest corner of Rotamer Road and Deer Crossing Drive.
Parents weren’t happy with that option. They worried students would get hit crossing the street and traffic would get backed up in front of homes as parents waited to drop off their children.
Kim Jazdzewski presented a petition with more than 100 signatures of residents against the drop-off plan.
“Who will control the traffic and hurried drivers in order to keep our children safe?” she asked.
The district agreed to go back to the drawing board with a group of Harmony parents. Nikolay will arrange a meeting with the Harmony parents and then a meeting with the district’s transportation committee, he said.
Aug 9, 2008 at 11:14 p.m.
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2 miles.. 5 year olds? ... winter? W.T.Heck! and a warm bus is going to drive right by these kids as they walk in freezing temps?
Aug 6, 2008 at 1:14 p.m.
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Thank You Kimjaz
I remember a couple of years ago someone timed the lunch period. They said that even though the children had 20 minutes allotted for lunch by the time the last kid in the hot lunch line sat down that kid only had about 14 minutes to eat. I thought it was rather stressful on the young children to be hurried like that...not to mention the "no talking time". Administration said that there was not going to be a fix to the short lunch period in the near future. I was just wondering if anyone solved that yet.
Good luck to you, the children and the other parents of Harmony! I hope you all have a great year and are able to iron out the traffic issues.
Aug 6, 2008 at 10:08 a.m.
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I don't know about the lunch period this year, last year it was VERY short, and in the winter by the time the children took off their snow gear they barley had any time to eat, especially if they stood in line for hot lunch.
Aug 5, 2008 at 11:07 p.m.
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I know this is a little off topic, but does anyone know if the Harmony lunch period will be longer this coming school year? I'm just curious....
Aug 5, 2008 at 11:05 p.m.
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I am glad my child does not attend that school anymore! I thought the drop off/pick up traffic was awful a few years ago. I can't imagine what it will be like this year. I hope all the Harmony children stay safe!
Aug 5, 2008 at 9:22 p.m.
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Harmony is a K-3 school. 105 students are affected by the discontinued busing--that is nearly half of the students at Harmony. Wait, that is not all, next year the West side of Rotamer will have their busing discontinued.
The children will be supervised by only 1 crossing guard, this simply isn't enough supervision. It is one thing to make the children walk, but to make their path dangerous in the process by adding the drop off traffic is wrong. This is bad for our children and is completely unacceptable.
Aug 5, 2008 at 6:11 p.m.
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Miltongirl- Get a clue. Have you been around Harmony school at drop off or pick up? The principal at the school couldn't handle the traffic there last year now one crossing guard is going to take care of twice as many kids crossing Rotamer??? Maybe the City of Janesville needs to let us park along Rotamer instead of only having the bike only lanes.
Aug 5, 2008 at 4:24 p.m.
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in our district they told us you can only make children walk the 2 miles if they are above 3rd grade i thought harmony only went to 3rd grade
Aug 5, 2008 at 11:37 a.m.
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One mile seems reasonable, but 2 miles would be a VERY long walk for an elementary student. I'm all for walking to school...we walk about 5 blocks which takes about 7-8 minutes. Very few kids do walk, even ones that live a lot closer than us. It is good exercise and saves fuel. But I do think that expecting a 5-7 year old to walk 2 miles twice each day is ridiculous.
Aug 5, 2008 at 11:28 a.m.
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Decreased bus service AND a 12.6% increase in your school taxes. I can't recall where I've read a news article where things are actually improving in this country. It seems all the news points toward an eventual collapse.
Aug 5, 2008 at 10:41 a.m.
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OMG get over it.....your kids will be fine walking a few feet to school.....
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