By Stephanie MarielPetrellese

Two Garden City residents who have students in the Middle School expressed concerns about the safety of the dismissal process at the Feb. 25th Garden City Board of Education meeting.

On Feb. 25th, the district closed the circular fire lane located on the side of the middle school on Cherry Valley Avenue. According to Eileen Liddy and Beth Mercadante, this created a chaotic and dangerous condition as many parents, unaware that the circle was going to be closed, disobeyed traffic rules by making illegal U-turns or stopping in the street to pick up their children.

Some parents pick up their children in the parking lot across the street at the district's administration building. Liddy argued that students should be able to be picked up safely on middle school property.

School Board President Kenneth Monaghan disagreed. "We think it's safer for kids to be picked up on the other side of the street."

The district had posted a message on the Middle School Web site that day alerting parents to the change: "For safety reasons, the Cherry Valley traffic circle is closed to parent traffic whenever there is a school crossing guard present. This includes regular school-day and sports dismissal times. Since there is no sidewalk outside of the Cherry Valley exit door, students must cross the circle's vehicular traffic path to get to the sidewalk where the crossing guard is stationed. Traffic cones will be placed out when the circle is closed. The Garden City Police Department will also ticket cars parked in the fire lanes. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but our focus must be on the children's safety. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation."

Dr. Feirsen offered parents two alternatives: pick up children after the buses leave or use the circular drive by the flagpole in front of the building. Monaghan said parking restrictions will be enforced so that cars no longer block the fire lane.

Possible redesigns of that side of the building will be explored in the future after middle school expansion plans are finalized. An ad-hoc committee is expected to start meeting in March to study the possibility of issuing a bond to fund capital improvements in the district. One of the committee's primary responsibilities will be to decide what improvements the bond should cover.

Monaghan announced that the ad-hoc committee, whose members are still being finalized, will be given a new demographic study which shows space needs at the middle and high schools are not as dire as originally thought. He said the Board was not satisfied with a previous demographic study because it was too broad and not as precise as they wanted.

Even though the population is still growing and both schools are already maximizing available space to its fullest, Monaghan expressed some optimism. "The good news is that the preliminary indications from the most recent demographic report we've done are that we are probably closer to a peak in population than the previous one had indicated, and therefore our space needs might not be as great," he announced. Monaghan refused to provide any more details until the study is officially released.