LANDIS — Holding a young daughter in one arm and a first-grader by the hand, Donna McNeal looked both ways before crossing the river of traffic on Mount Moriah Church Road.
“A lot of people park over here and cross the road,” McNeal said while walking back to her car from Landis Elementary School Wednesday morning.
Parents believe a change in school bell times has caused traffic to stall here each morning and afternoon.
Rather than loop around a parking lot on the back side of the school, some parents park at a church across a busy street and walk children to the front of the school.
Others say they have to take children to the front office and have children counted as tardy because the delays keep them from reaching the school on time.
“It’s ridiculous this year,” said Tammy Isenhour, who also has a child in first grade.
Principal Tina Hall said she knows traffic is worse at her school this year; one morning it was backed up along Ryder Avenue almost all the way to downtown Landis.
But schools can’t just waive tardies for parents delayed in traffic, she said.
“There’s gridlock. No one can get in the lot, no one can get out of the lot. Parents are extremely upset. They’re mad because their children are being counted as tardy.”
Most schools in Rowan County shifted schedules this year to accommodate a plan that will improve efficiency by allowing buses to double their routes.
Hall said some parents drop one child off at Landis Elementary just before the first bell rings because they have another child they must leave at Corriher-Lipe Middle School.
The first bell there rings 30 minutes later, at 8:15.
To help the situation, Landis Elementary has 12 to 15 teacher assistants helping children get from cars to classes safely. Hall has sent letters to parents about the tardy policy and asked the Landis Police Department and school system administrators for help. Administrators say they’ve contacted the N.C. Department of Transportation to ask an engineer to look at traffic lights.
Hall also encourages parents to let children ride the buses.
Eyeing his watch, school system Transportation Director Jim Christy has stood at the school each morning this week and watched cars come and go. He said parents have had to wait four minutes at the longest. He said most children are marked tardy because their parents show up just as the first bell rings at 7:45.
“They’re frustrated because they’re getting tardies, but they’re getting there late for school,” he said.
Police Chief Charles Childers and officers have stood at points around the school, too — to direct traffic.
“It seems like it’s worse this year, and I think a lot of it has to do with the schedule,” Childers said. “My main concern is safety, but it also cuts into my budget...It just seems like it’s a problem.”
Contact Brad A. Hodges at 704-797-4266 or bhodges@salisburypost.com
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