Parents:

The safety of our children is a paramount concern for all of us. Our SVdP faculty and administration work tirelessly to ensure that our children are safe and secure from arrival to dismissal; but concerns for student safety do not stop when the dismissal bell rings each day. The School Board is asking for your consideration and assistance with the following issue.

There has been an increasing number of safety incidents being reported due to the practice of parents parking on Eagle Run Drive, and other residential streets around the school to pick up their children after school. As a reminder, the SVdP Family Handbook specifically states on Page 16 that, unless the student is walking home: “All students are to be picked up in the parking lot. Pick-up on 142nd Circle, 143rd Circle, Eagle Run Drive, or any residential development is not allowed.” Our faculty and administration assist children whose parents have designated them as “walkers” with exiting the school’s premises, but cannot take responsibility for their safety after they leave the school’s grounds and obviously cannot police, on a daily basis, which parents are violating this rule.

While picking up children from Eagle Run Drive is prohibited by the Family Handbook, the safety of students has been further jeopardized by a number of unsafe and, in some cases, unlawful, driving practices by parents violating this rule. Some of these unsafe and unlawful practices that have been reported include:

Parking a car within 30 feet of an intersection. Not leaving sufficient (and legally required) space at the intersection is blocking the view of parents needing to exit east on to Eagle Run Drive resulting in near collisions due to the obstruction.  

Parking on the corners of the intersection of Eagle Run Drive and 141st Street, which also blocks the crosswalk being used by some of these children.

Parking too close to the “traffic calming devices” creating difficulty for traffic attempting to continue west on Eagle Run Drive.

Parents standing in the street to socialize with other parents while waiting for dismissal, which is causing westbound drivers to move even further to the left side of the road causing a greater risk of colliding with oncoming traffic.

Not parking within 12 inches of the curb (or parking at an angle such that at least part of the vehicle is significantly further than 12 inches from the curb).

Illegal U-turns in the middle of the road causing following or oncoming traffic to brake suddenly.

Emerging from a parked spot into oncoming traffic with no signal and without yielding to moving traffic.

In at least one case, a parent traveling eastbound abruptly stopped in the middle of the road, causing following cars to brake suddenly to avoid a collision. The parent then summoned the parent’s children to run across Eagle Run Drive, in front of oncoming traffic, which was also forced to stop as the kids ran across the road.

In speaking with parents, we understand one reason that families choose to pick up their children on Eagle Run Drive, despite it being prohibited, is a perception that exiting the parking lot and leaving the neighborhood can be too time consuming due to the number of families that need to exit to the west. To this end, the school is contacting the city to explore reprogramming the stoplight at 144th and Eagle Run Drive to allow for longer egress from the neighborhood during school dismissal. We do not know at this time if we will be able to do so, but we want you to know we are working on this.

We do anticipate the possibility of patrol in this area by law enforcement to ensure compliance with Omaha’s traffic code for vehicles that are parked on Eagle Run Drive due to some of these issues.

We would, again, ask parents to please follow the appropriate dismissal procedures set forth in the Family Handbook and pick up your children from the school’s parking lot. If you have any questions about where you are generally asked to park within the parking lot, please contact the school office. While we understand how busy everyone is, and that, at times, congestion in leaving school will be unavoidable, we ask for your patience and understanding that a few extra minutes of your time can prevent serious injury… or worse… to our children and families. Thank you for your support in following the correct procedures and cooperation with this important matter.

SVdP School Board