Breckenridge Texan

Vehicles lined up on East Walker Street on Wednesday afternoon, waiting to turn onto North Hartford Street, as parents arrived at East Elementary to pick up their kids. The school district implemented a new procedure at the school but are working with the City of Breckenridge to redesign the plan. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

By Carla McKeown and Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

When the new student pick-up procedures at East Elementary School had traffic backed up for blocks on East Walker Street on Tuesday afternoon, prompting many complaints from parents,  Breckenridge Independent School District and City of Breckenridge officials immediately began working to fix the problems. They met with a traffic engineer this afternoon to draft a new plan that Superintendent Prairie Freeman hopes to have in place soon.

East Elementary staff member Keith Fuller, right, stops traffic on Tuesday morning for families to cross the street on the first day of school. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Breckenridge’s first day of school started off fine early Tuesday morning, Aug. 5, with the usual smiles — from kids, parents and school staff — and a few tears — from some kids and some parents. Even East Elementary’s new drop-off procedure went relatively smoothly with just a few minor glitches, mostly due to a lack of signage and lane markings on the streets around the school. (Click here to see the Breckenridge Texan’s Photo Gallery from Tuesday morning.)

But, Tuesday afternoon’s pick-up at East was a different story. With some parents waiting in line for over an hour to pick up their kids after school, traffic was backed up on Walker Street, a situation that the new system was supposed to prevent. Additionally, some residents in the area complained online that their driveways were blocked — another issue the route, which was designed by a traffic engineer hired by the City of Breckenridge, was intended to avoid.

Wednesday afternoon, Freeman was joined by Police Chief Blake Johnson, a couple of police officers and East Elementary staff members to keep the pick-up process moving more smoothly than it had on Tuesday. The kids were picked up in about half the time it took on the first day of school, Freeman said.

Freeman explained that the school district partnered with the City to create a new drop-off and pick-up plan when it was discovered that there were some legal issues with the way the process had taken place in past years. “So we reached out to the city. They actually partnered with us and hired traffic engineers to come in and assess,” she said. “They assessed East and the traffic patterns in late spring. They presented us with two options, and… we offered those options to our parents to vote (on) during the summer. And then we came back and picked one of the options that was presented, that the parents had voted on.”

East Elementary and BISD staff members help students into cars on the Industrial Loop on Wednesday afternoon. A new plan for the school’s drop-off and pick-up will be released soon, officials say. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Then, when the plan was put into action on Tuesday, the school district realized there were some problems. “Yesterday at pickup, it was evident that there were some issues that we needed to address,” she said, explaining that she talked with City Manager Cynthia Northrop Tuesday evening. “So we circled back up this morning … the chief of police, (East Elementary Principal Shannon) Deen, Miss Northrop … and (School Board President Nic) McClymond … all met with traffic engineers this afternoon to express our concerns about students and staff being on the highway (the Industrial Loop). The engineers have offered a couple of changes, and so we’re going to be working on that and getting the word out to our parents that we will be making some changes. And so hopefully, moving forward, it will be more safe for our students, as well as our staff, at East.”

Freeman said she doesn’t have a definite timeline and that they are waiting on the engineers to get the finalized plans back to them before putting the new routes in place. Shortly before 7 p.m. this evening, Wednesday, Aug. 6, Freeman sent a joint BISD-City of Breckenridge statement to the Breckenridge Texan. “BISD and the City of Breckenridge want to thank our families and community members for your ongoing support and patience as we work together to improve traffic flow and safety during pick-up and drop-off at East Elementary,” the statement said before providing some background into the situation. “Given the level of concern that has been raised, a meeting was held with BISD, the traffic engineers and city representatives to re-evaluate the plan to further enhance safety and alleviate concerns. The new traffic pattern plan will be distributed shortly. Both BISD and the City of Breckenridge ask for your continued patience as we endeavor to address traffic safety. This is a complex issue, and it will take collaboration, flexibility, patience and understanding from all of us. Let’s focus on working together to find the best solutions rather than placing blame.”

After waiting in the long line Tuesday, a couple of parents showed up at the Breckenridge City Commission meeting to voice their concerns. Additionally, one parent has started an online petition to modify the procedure, and many others expressed their frustration over the situation on Facebook.

Jaclyn Morehart, left, addresses the Breckenridge City Commission on Tuesday night, voicing her concerns about the traffic plan for East Elementary after she waiting in line for an hour and 20 minutes to pick up her son and niece. The City partnered with the school district to get a new drop-off and pick-up procedure designed by a traffic engineer. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Jaclyn Morehart, who was at East on Tuesday afternoon to pick up her youngest son and her niece, said she waited in line for an hour and 20 minutes. She was at the meeting Tuesday night and addressed the city commission, expressing her concerns.

“The issue with the way it was today (Tuesday) is that it’s all one lane for, like, the whole school,” Morehart said. “It used to be, you would turn in off of Walker Street onto Hartford, pull in the front loop of the school and there’s two lanes, so they can load up a bunch of cars — that (was) for first and second grade…and kindergarten (had) three lanes over on the west side of the school. It was a very quick process.

“Now, you turn off Walker, it’s a single-file line,” she continued. “You go all the way down to Lindsey, behind the playground of the school, up the Industrial Loop, and you’re parked alongside the east side of the school on the Industrial Loop.”

The fact that the kids are being dropped off and picked up on the Industrial Loop (aka Graham Avenue), was a point of concern for Morehart, as well as the length of time it took to get the kids picked up. “So, what you can see are the heavy, big trucks, going back there to where they work,” she explained. “You can’t keep them out. I mean, that’s where they work. It’s a road, you know. But, so many staff trying to keep kids safe by loading on the Industrial Loop, and it just took such a long time because it’s only one lane. I know school pick-ups are really bad, usually, the first day, and then they get better. Like I said, I’ve picked kids up from school…my kid’s in junior high now. So, I’ve been doing this a long time, but I just don’t understand…with it being a one lane, how it will get faster.”

Another point of concern was the length of time the students had to wait to be picked up. Morehart said her son and niece waited in the cafeteria for almost 90 minutes, until 4:55 p.m., after having been at school since 7:30 Tuesday morning.

Sena Yanez started a petition on Change.org, requesting a modification to the drop-off and pick-up process.

“Consider our little ones, who should be playing or engaging in after-school activities instead of sitting idly in cafeteria chairs. This is especially unrealistic for children at such a young age. Equally, our dedicated staff members, who facilitate this chaotic pick-up procedure, should not bear the brunt of flawed city planning while having to stay beyond their contractual time,” the petition explains. “City officials who design these systems are not the ones enduring the extreme weather conditions during pick-ups or sitting in cafeteria chair for an extended time. Out of sight should never mean out of mind. Just because our decision-makers aren’t physically present doesn’t diminish the critical needs of East Elementary’s community. Reforming this system isn’t just a matter of convenience; it’s an urgent necessity for student safety, staff welfare, and parental peace of mind. We urge the City of Breckenridge to re-evaluate the current pick-up and drop off process at East Elementary quickly and develop an efficient and constructive solution.”

More than 150 people had signed the petition by this evening.

East Elementary staff members monitor traffic during Wednesday afternoon’s student pick-up time. The procedure took about half as long as it did on Tuesday, the superintendent said. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

This afternoon, the police chief said he and the other officers were helping to ensure the pick-up procedures went as smoothly as possible following the plan that is currently in place, as well as assessing the traffic patterns to keep everyone safe until the new plan can be enacted. “We’re waiting for the engineers to come back to us, and they’re going to make recommendations about what we’re going to be looking at as far as any improvements on the existing plan,” Johnson said. “So I’m hoping that we’re going to come out with a statement soon enough to let folks know that, hey, these are the things and these are the recommendations of what we’re going to do if we change the program. So I expect that we’re looking to do something imminent.”

At Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting, Northrop addressed the commissioners and others in attendance about the situation at East Elementary. She said she had planned to give a brief update on the route planning process before the problems were obvious.

Northrop said that it came to her attention last year that some of the procedures being used for drop-off and pick-up at East Elementary were not in compliance with the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the state’s standard for traffic control devices on all public roadways.

Sage Diller, professional engineer with eHT (Enprotec / Hibbs & Todd, Inc), also talked to the commission and others at the meeting about the process that was followed in changing the East procedures.

“There were a couple items that were addressed or identified — the blocking of the driveways on that west side (of East Elementary) and in some of the existing striping. So we consulted with a sub consultant out of the metroplex, Dunaway and Associates, who specializes in school areas and in school traffic,” he said. “They’re a traffic analysis company, and so they came out, as Cynthia mentioned, monitored the site, watched pick-up, drop off. They were there all day. They came up with the options they wanted to make sure that the striping signage and the traffic patterns were in accordance with the TMUTCD. And so that is what has been proposed. As with all plans, you know, it needs to be monitored. If there’s any adjustments that need to be made, they can consider it, and the parties can then work together and come up with a good solution. But this was a plan that was proposed that was in accordance with the regulations.”

Johnson said one of the problems that Breckenridge Police Department officers noticed on Tuesday afternoon involved some drivers who, either on purpose or inadvertently, drove around the long line of cars and tried to cut into the line closer to the pick-up spot. He said the BPD will have officers at East Elementary to ensure the rules are followed and everyone is safe, as long as necessary.

Parents and their children wait outside East Elementary on the first day of school for the doors to open at 7:30 a.m. Click here to see more pictures from the first day of school. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Parents, grandparents and other family members were on hand for the first day of school at East Elementary on Tuesday morning. The school had a sign set up on the front lawn for pictures. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline top photo: BISD Superintendent Prairie Freeman and other staff members assist school children down the slope to their parents’ waiting vehicles on Wednesday afternoon. The school district and the City of Breckenridge are working to create a new drop-off and pick-up plan after the one implemented on Tuesday seemed to have a few flaws and drew complaints from parents. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)