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Many parents are actively involved with their children’s education, but even the most active sometimes hit a brick wall. That brick wall loomed at Brentfield Elementary, a part of the Richardson Independent School District in Dallas, Texas, where children were facing a threat to their safety that the entire school community was challenged to remove. The road crossing children used to get to the school was heavily trafficked by commuters using it as a shortcut to the nearby tollway. Cars traveling as fast as 50 mph frequently flew through the crossing. Because there was no stop sign at the crossing, children relied on a crossing guard to help them cross the street. Unfortunately, because of a worker shortage, our school crossing guard was showing up fewer and fewer days each month. Many parents felt it was just a matter of time until an accident occurred.
Our PTA had discussed a number of alternative solutions, including hiring a crossing guard or recruiting volunteer crossing guards. Neither of these solutions turned out to be practical for us. The City of Dallas had recently changed the requirements for obtaining a stop sign that made it easier for residents to acquire one in residential areas. We decided our best solution was to try to obtain a stop sign.
Even with the relaxed requirements, getting a stop sign was easier said than done. More than half of the property owners in a three-block radius of the proposed stop sign had to sign a petition requesting the sign. We soon found that not all residents in these homes were the property owners and that not everyone understood the need. It took approximately six weeks before we had the required number of signatures.
In the meantime, I contacted the Dallas Planning and Zoning Commissioner for our area and discussed the problem with her. She arranged for city employees to assess the situation and track the speed of vehicles through the intersection. I also visited the local fire station, but found no support there; they were concerned that a stop sign would slow their response time. Volunteers stood at the intersection counting children and cars at the beginning and end of the school day so those figures could be added to our information.
Once we had all of our signatures and statistics ready, we submitted our request to the Planning and Zoning Commission; they denied our petition. We appealed their decision and arranged to be included on their agenda.
The commissioners listened to our presentation and then heard from our principal as well as the fire department and the traffic engineers. There was some discussion, and when the vote was taken, it was in our favor. We were going to get our stop sign! A helpful city employee arranged for the stop signs to be installed the next week.
All this happened in the spring of 2002. The parents of the students currently attending Brentfield Elementary cannot even remember a time without a stop sign—and that’s just great. Our experience shows that any parents who are committed to keeping children safe can “fight” city hall.
Linda Holstien is recording secretary of the JJ Pearce High School PTA board, Richardson, Texas, third vice president of membership on the Richardson Independent School District Council of PTA board, and Texas PTA Area 15 parliamentarian.
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