What does this teach our children...that adults can't follow the rules?? I too drop my child off in the morning. She refuses to get out of the car until we are in the drop off area unlike the majority of kids who are getting out on the front sidewalk. I am amazed by the number of parents who can't seem to follow the rules. Whats the rush folks?

I think they should have a school employee out there every day. Seems without that, a lot of ignorant, impatient parents just do whatever they want. Heck, they have safety people on buses to check after every stop, why not here?

Jeez when i went to cole they had these big yellow vehicles that picked up and dropped off students, oh ya theyre called SCHOOL BUSES

One problem I see is that people pull up but their kids aren't quite prepared for the drop-off, or they insist upon holding some sort of conversation before the kid gets out. I won't pass anyone on the left, but it sure is tempting when someone's idling in front of you for a minute or two, especially when they've parked directly in front of the school. This oughta be a 10-second operation. Pull up, open the door, say goodbye, shut the door, drive off.

The problem is the layout of the drop off area. The parents do not want to drive all the way to the end and have their child walk back toward the school. If they would reverse it so when pulling in you are driving toward the school and not away all the gaps would not happen. So make the entrance the exit and the exit the entrance and no kid will want to get out of the car at the furthest point. They will wait til they are closer to the school. Where do I send my bill?

Yes someone is alway at the end of the line, in this case the end of the line is closer to the school and too tempting. Therefore the kids start to get out and more so on bad weather days when parents are more willing to drive the child instead of having them wait for the bus. Yes, parents should follow the rules but a better process would help in addition to your "promise" feature. The bill was for my traffic engineering but I will waive it, if you promise to not jump out of your car anymore.

Why not have eighth graders be traffic controllers and safety guards? They did this at my daughter's elementary school last year in Massachusetts and it worked perfectly. They even said 'good morning' and opened the door for the kids sometimes.

I'm still confused about why you are letting your child get out on the left side of the car. I've sat in that drop-off line many times, so I'm sympathetic to the craziness. We could all make it better by getting there a couple of minutes earlier and having your kid gather everything up so he/she is ready to get out when you are in the appropriate "drop off" spot. Plus, never letting your child get out on that side!

Seriously EG parent??? There's lots to be done out there in the world. I don't think SHOUTY caps are necessary. And does anyone even know what an aerobics class is????

EG Parent, I understand that technically you are following the rules, as there isn't a rule about only letting kids out on the right side of the car. My point is, if people are going to continue to not follow directions (as is likely the case), we can all keep our kids safer by not letting them out on the left side of the car.

Totes PT Mom. Totes.

To bring up another issue, why the heck am I driving my daughter every day in the first place? Unfortunately despite having 7 children on the straight stretch of our street, the school bus company insists on having the bus stop be around the corner where we can not monitor our children. Their reply to a request to have the stop be closer is "it is your job to get your children to the bus stop safely". So my reply is to drive my child, as are many parents on our street. If the school bus company would be more open to parent requests to move bus stops, perhaps we would have fewer drop offs.

The same happens at Meadowbrook Farms. This year has been the worst.
Parents passing you on the left, as they can NOT wait in the car line until your child has exited, and you drive away. It is ridiculous.
Some even chose to park in the drop off line. They get out and walk their child into the building. Seriously! It is very frustrating.
Yes, and I have a child at Cole. I've experienced cars whizzing past me too. I notice that it is usually the same people, over and over again.

I have to admit that I will let my child exit in front of the school if the traffic is stopped anyway, but then I wait to exit and not pass.
My frustration is the parents who follow the direction and don't let out there but then only pull into the drop off lane 3 or 4 car lengths so their child doesn't have to walk rather than pull all the way up to the blue sign to allow lots of cars in the loop. Sometimes it is these same parents who's child is not ready to get out or then gives final instructions to them after they get out.
If the front car pulled all the way to the blue sign before stopping and everyone was ready to get out as soon as it was safe to do so, it would do a lot to shorten the drive through line and I too would go back to being the mean mom who makes them wait when I do drive (which has been more often the past couple weeks due to the cold)

I'm telling you change the direction. The comments Jennifer made happenn all the time and create a chain reaction. We can call the new procedure, " flip flop the Cole drop". Archie would approve.

Since many parents obviously aren't using the buses provided after demands by parents to provide public transportation. Perhaps I could be reimbursed for my taxes that go to pay for buses that aren't being used? Grow up you whiny little entitled nickle millionaires.

We live in a very safe community, and the "kids" who are really 12-14 years old can walk safely two blocks to a bus stop. When I drive through neighborhoods like Greenwood, Buttonwoods, and Oakland Beach, kids are playing in the street and having a great time. Here in EG they are all locked in their McMansions playing video games, and texting on their brand new I phones.

Yes, All the adults need to follow the rules. Not just the "Non-Special" adults.
No, we shouldn't be driving are kids in the first place!

Yes!!!! The parents who drive their kids to middle school will probably be going on their first job interview with them.

Thank you Heather... The point of my blog was to make people aware of the issues and maybe bring to the parents attention their dangerous habits, for lack of a better word. Polite discourse, not name calling or mud slinging is how we as adults should be behaving. Hence, why I have not responded to many comments.. This is not a contest, it was created to bring community awareness to the Cole parents.. which it has!

When I was a boy, I used to hike 3 miles to school during blizzard conditions ... How quickly times have changed ... This generation is one of the most uncoordinated, lazy ones in the history of the universe.

Not saying you are wrong for your opinions and "awareness," but maybe it just illustrates a greater problem with society, the same one where God forbid our kids carry textbooks, lets get them an iPAD for education purposes.

OK ---- I MUST SAY MY PIECE ------ My daughter does get out on the left side, because our van does not open on the right anymore in the SAFER area of the back. I do not know how many GOTTA GO --- PARENTS have passed MY DAUGHTER on the left as she is exiting --------- PUTTING MY DAUGHTERS LIFE AT RISK!!!!!!! It is INSANE just FOLLOW the RULES SET UP TO KEEP EVERYONE'S CHILD/CHILDREN SAFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT is Your Hurry?, you only get out of the area moments sooner.......... PLEASE KEEP ALL CHILDREN SAFE!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to the original author, maybe this conversation will change things, when the school principals, reminders of the rules have unfortunately not -------- EWPalmer