Enhancing Student Safety during Drop Off and Pick Up

Good afternoon Oakwood Community,

Thanks to all of you for helping us have a good start to our new school year.  I appreciate your patience and support as we have and continue to work through some of the changes at our school this year.  Student safety is always our top priority, and we are making a few changes to help improve safety during drop-off and pick-up times.  I have worked with our school’s community council, PTA, the Granite School Board of Education and various district departments, Holladay City, and the Unified Police Department (UPD) to enhance student safety when being dropped off and picked up.

Prior to the start of the school year and since our first day of school, the following plans have been in place to support a safe drop-off and pick-up zone:

• Oakwood Elementary held a test run last spring to create an entering and egress plan from our parking lot.  Adjustments have been made and will continue to be made as needed.
• A School Safety video was created to support safe practices for all involved with drop-off and pick-up.  The video may be seen by going to our school’s website.
• “KEEP CLEAR” has been painted on Highland Drive at the exit of our school’s parking lot to prevent backup in the drive thru zone.
• Trees along Highland Drive have been trimmed back to unblock the view of our safety zone signage along Highland Drive.
• The crossing guards in front of Oakwood have been given extra cones to place in a traffic lane where they step out to help children cross.  This enhances visibility and prevents motorists from driving around the crossing guards.
• Crossing guards from Spring Lane Elementary were retained and moved to 5600 S. Highland to cross kids coming from the north area of our school’s boundary.
• More buses have been added this year to provide transportation for our Owls living at a distance from school.
• UPD has been doing speed enforcement multiple times each week.

Based on collaboration from all of the partners identified in the first paragraph of this letter and with additional input from community members, we are pleased to announce the following additional improvements to Oakwood’s drop-off and pick-up process:

• Holladay City and UPD will add a crossing guard at Fardown Ave, (south of our school’s campus) to support students crossing north and south off Fardown Ave. (Attachment A)
• Crossing Guards on 5600 S. Highland Drive may be relocated in the future to better support areas of need because of lack of use.
• The City and UPD request that ALL foot traffic on the west side of Highland Drive use the crosswalk where crossing guards are in place on the northwest side of the school. Students in particular should use this crosswalk with a crossing guard and NOT the east/west crosswalk at the intersection of Fardown Ave.
• As mentioned in the School Safety video, we continue to encourage families to look for additional safe locations to drop-off or pick-up their student(s).  This includes, but is not limited to, the church parking lot south of the school, public side streets, and designated parking areas.  Please remember to adhere to all traffic laws.
• Holladay City is working with the neighbors and the garbage collection company on the west side of Highland directly in front of our school to ensure a safe path for students to the crosswalk on the northwest side of our campus. (Attachment B)
• Holladay City will post signs on the east side of Highland Drive from the south entrance of Oakwood Elementary to Fardown Ave, that read “No Parking, Standing or Stopping on School Days.”  This will prevent vehicles from stopping and waiting on Highland Drive for school to get out. Appropriate enforcement will be undertaken by UPD. Please do NOT park on Highland Drive. (Attachment C)
• Extra precautions have been added to our bus lane so that students exiting from the back of the school walk safely to the front of the building.  It is vital that parents do not park in our bus lanes or faculty parking lots to ensure student safety around the buses.
• The school’s community council will continue to take suggestions about future improvements, discuss these suggestions at our future meetings, and continue to collaborate with Holladay City and UPD for any additional enhancements as necessary.  All future concerns about drop-off and pick-up at Oakwood Elementary should be emailed to me at edbailey@graniteschools.org, and I will pass them along to the school’s community council and the City/UPD and Granite District.

May I also suggest the following recommendations that you can begin doing now to help with traffic and safety concerns:

• Carpool
• Use safe walking routes.
• Ride the available school buses (link to bus eligibility).
• Use safe parking areas located off campus and support your child to walk safely to and from school.
• Depending on the distance from your home, students may be able to walk safely to and from school rather than being driven to/from school.
• Cross busy streets only where a crossing guard is present.

I love our Owls and by each of us supporting these safety initiatives, we will better ensure all our Owls arrive to and from school safely.

Sincerely,

Eric D. Bailey

Principal

#TogetherWeSOAR