St. Michael-Albertville Middle School West morning student drop-off traffic is a tragedy in the making. My daughter was almost hit and killed by a car when I dropped her off at Middle School West on Friday, Oct 24th. She got out of the car on the left side while we were at a dead stop behind several parents. In a blink of an eye, I almost lost her as another vehicle speed by at 20-30 mph in the inside lane.
While my daughter exited on the wrong side of the car and location, I can tell you I witnessed several other kids crossing in this fashion. People are very frustrated with the traffic situation and are taking dangerous actions: passing in the inside lane and driving over the sidewalk to exit through the parking lot.
I was extremely puzzled when I spoke to Assistant Principal Lynn Jennissen on Friday regarding the incident. I requested an auto-dialer or email be sent to all parents notifying them of the situation. Lynn stated that “we do not send emails/auto-dialers out for every incident. Our research shows parents will question why am I getting this email and call the school.” Lynn also commented that he will write an article for the next newsletter. As a parent, I expect to be notified of all serious incidents. Auto-dialers/emails grabs my attention. Newsletter do not. Please, Please notify all parents via email/auto-dialer. Let’s not wait to send an email after the tragedy. We have an opportunity to prevent this.
We need to take action immediately. One, send out the communication to parents. Two, staff or parent volunteers need to be out monitoring at all times. (I am happy that Assistant Lynn will be out there every day, but he must have a backup when he is unavailable). Two, we must block the inside lane with barriers. Three, we need to put a sign up making left turns at 50Th Street North East illegal. Until these actions are implemented we need the sheriff directing traffic in the morning.
I am holding the STMA School District, Middle School West and Wright County Sherriff accountable to fix this situation immediately.
Susan Lamey
St. Michael-Albertville parent