Eye on the Street
Decatur Metro | August 2, 2011
Fifth Avenue Academy, Decatur GA (pic submitted by Anne)
Fifth Avenue Academy, Decatur GA (pic submitted by Anne)
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Yes…and new today was the mini traffic jam at the Oakhurst crossroads due to crossing guards. Darn pedestrian children! Actually it was kinda cute.
It’s a beautiful school and all the teachers are really excited. My 4th grader is probably having a blast there right now! (Sniff…)
What a beautiful building! Need to check it out during the off-rush hour period!
It was amazing to see so many of our children walking and biking to school. This is such a great community!
Early morning vehicular traffic in Oakhurst consistently includes enough aggressive drivers to make conditions hazardous (for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other cars). They are in the minority, but it only takes one to run you down. Even at the all-way stop intersections, you have to be extremely careful — Oakview/2nd, Oakview/East Lake, East Lake/Third, East Lake/2nd. It’s my fondest hope that the crossing guards will be at least as aggressive as those few obnoxious motorists; and that the guarded crossings, together with the sheer mass of walkers and bikers moving about, will have a calming effect on traffic.
Pit Bulls, the IRS, and CSD crossing guards: Three things I never mess with.
Maybe now we can finally get a traffic light at Oakview & Eastlake. Just a matter of time until someone gets run over at that intersection; hopefully not a child.
The whole intersection is going to be overhauled (if the project ever escapes from being held hostage by GDOT red tape). I believe it will remain a 4-way stop, but they’re going to narrow the ROW approaching the corner, at least southbound on E Lake and westbound on Oakview; widen sidewalks; retool parking and maybe some other things. All designed a few years ago with input from residents and merchants, and all aimed at calming vehicular traffic and increasing safety for pedestrians and bicycles (and motorists, by the way).
If you are the Craig I think you are (and I think you are) please do not use your magical powers of city hall persausion to conjure a traffic light!
Seriously? I drive through there daily, ride my bike almost daily and have sat outside at Kavarna and have never seen anything too different from any other 4 way stop. The last thing I want to do is to see and wait for a traffic light there and to have idling cars at an intersection that really doesn’t have enough traffic to warrant a light.
My 2 cents.
Agree. I’m through there multiple times a day and it’s a pretty well behaved four way if you ask me. A stoplight would actually be worse in my opinion as folks accelerate to make it through the yellow/red.
You should check out the situation on West Howard during the morning and afternoon schools hours and the aggressive speeders (mostly OTP people). The 2 crossing guards are equally aggressive protecting the children and making sure they get across the street safely. And our city police help balance our budget with the help of OTP speeders getting very frequent speeding tickets. Hopefully this situation will be repeated on the street you mentioned.
I hope the aggressive driving does not continue. My experience with a dangerous driver this morning leads me to imagine that some may be paying less attention in Decatur now that students are in Oakhurst.
They need more than a scolding from a crossing guard!
i was thrilled to see a police car with lights flashing parked out in front of 5th avenue this morning…we could probably use one of those at the intersection of oakview and east lake but the crossing guard was doing a great job bringing traffic to a stand still when kids and parents crossed. i like the thought of a little added protection so when said aggressive drivers come thru they can get properly and swiftly nailed.
The traffic snarl was quite the zoo, but it is indeed a good thing to see so many walkers/bikers. It would probably help to have a stop sign on Oakhurst at 5th Avenue to stop traffic at that intersection instead of relying on a crossing guard.
From this angle, FAVE (Fifth Avenue’s new acronym for those who don’t know) has an international air to it. Maybe Southeast Asian?
Even though maybe 5 commuters on Oakview, who were probably unaware that today was the first day of school, got to their destination a minute or two later than usual this morning, it was great to see all of the kids and parents walking & biking to school this morning. It was great to see the amazing energy at the corner of 5th and Oakview this morning after a decade of having a shuttered school at that corner.
Welcome to the neighborhood!
ditto, dropped my son off for his first day of pre-k at college heights and after going by Oakhurst Elementary the initial thoughts that ran through my mind was how great this community is promoting farm to table food at the schools, walking and biking to school vs. driving, etc…the one thing that this northerner still can’t understand is why they start school on August 2nd down here. We always started the Wednesday after Labor Day, felt like a true summer break and vacation…..
Agreed. Hottest months are July and August, so we could get out in June and start back in September! I would not want to be in one of those buses this afternoon!
Ditto here on starting school in September. Ever since my kids started public school, they haven’t been able to join their northern and western family summer events.
By the way, some kids were probably hot on the bus this morning but at least they got picked up! Some FAVE bus stops were overlooked this morning. Hopefully, the bus routes will settle out soon or kids will stop taking them, leading to one child per minivan commuting on the longer routes.
The early start date is new – a teacher told me yesterday that this is only the second year it’s been like this (it’s only our second year in the CSD system…) and that usually school started 2-3 weeks later than this. It’s the 6-week-on one-week-off, year-round-ish model. I have mixed feelings about it, but we’ll see.
Actually it started approximately the same time last year and then more like the 6-8th of August the year before that and maybe the year before that. I’d have to check my old summer schedule files to get the exact start dates. It’s been a few years since it started in the middle of August. School was already starting a bit earlier even before the new “balanced” calendar that began last year.
For me, the early start time is a seperate issue from the balanced calendar. The August start of school is a Southern thing that’s been going on for years and years. The balanced calendar is a CSD thing. A few other systems in Georgia are doing it too. I think Cobb is dropping it.
Well, the news reads that there’s a Gwinnett high school football player clinging to life due to a heatstroke at football practice. My son says several kids passed out at Decatur High band camp a week or so ago and one was admitted to the hospital. I sincerely hope it doesn’t take a Decatur child’s death here to knock some sense into leadership about reasonable start dates.
… And, yes, I know it’s hot in September too. However, there’s no reason to add 31 additional scorching hot days to sports practice, bus rides and band practice. That’s 31 additional days that kids can suffer heatstroke. Lots of other school districts (top school districts in the nation) start in late August and early September and somehow work out AP and SAT tests. How do they do it? Everyone takes AP tests at the same time.
The shorter summer doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the early start date. Why not move everything back a month?
Personally, I’d rather my kids be out of school in late May, when the weather is still pleasant enough, than in August, when it’s too hot to be outside. It’s about too hot right now to even be at the pool. I’ve got zero problem with my kids being inside an air-conditioned school building today instead of inside, bickering, asking for TV/computer time. My fourth grader’s teacher said they might spend a few minutes outside, but PE/recess was going to take place in the “multi-purpose room” as long as it is this hot.
+ 2
I mean 1, sorry, been a long day . . .
Couldn’t agree more. August in the South is like January in the North. It’s too hot for the kids to be outside, so they may as well be inside learning instead of playing Wii. I like having that week off in September.
A big +1!
+1
Sort of feels like Russian Roullette. I hate to be negative, but … tragically, I think it’s only a matter of time before we see a serious incident. As an administrator, I’d be nuts with worry about some kid dying of heatstroke on my clock at this time of year.
I could live with a mid/late June release in order to keep the kids safe in August. I wouldn’t count on it though. Apparently, EOCTs, football and AP tests rule the day. It would take a state law like they have in North Carolina and Virginia to shift the calendar here… but don’t count on that either.
Just read that another GA high school football kid died after practice today – apparently another heatstroke. This is nuts. Keep the 8 week summer and balanced calendar, but move the schedule back a month to minimize this kind of risk as much as possible.
Hopefully we will get some movement at the state level on this issue.
They have football practice in the summer regardless of when school kicks off I believe.
The Georgia High School Association (the athletic governing body) sets the dates for practice. It has nothing to do with the school’s calendar.
Well, if school doesn’t even start until after Labor Day, it gets kind of tough for the GHSA to start football practice in July, am I wrong?
When I say that, I mean statewide.. not just here in Decatur. BTW, just heard that the second football player died.
The first official day for practice on the GHSA schedule was Monday. Schools can and do have voluntary sessions before that. GHSA also requires schools to have heat heat management plans based upon heat index, not just temperature, but it’s unclear whether they have standards for the plans.
I don’t get the early Aug start date either…it’s going to be 100 tomorrow. I drove by Oakhurst Elementary at noon today and saw all the kids playing on the playground in the direct sun. Poor kids! I hope they take frequent water breaks.
Lets talk $$$ as well, utilities (a/c, water, electricity all tend to be higher in the summer months). What is the purpose of the 6 week on 1 week off model?
The start date seems to creep up every year. August 2nd? Was July 26th just too early?
School should not start until the day after Labor Day. Period.
Yup, no school before, and no white shoes after, Labor Day. Don’t mess with Serial Moms!
GREAT movie!
When I went to school it started the Tuesday after Labor day. So you know that was the best plan.
August 2nd was the exact same date as last year. For some families, it’s a blessing as the frequent breaks allow for more retreats. For other families where both parents have to finagle time off from work, it’s not so great. As for my kid, I think she loves the schedule and responds positively to the time off. There’s no perfect solution for everyone. But there’s certainly no magic to waiting until after Labor Day. I fall in line with DM sometimes, why not adopt a year round calendar? Utility costs is a non argument, heating a building is as costly as cooling one. And so what if kids are sweating on a playground? Granted, precautions should be taken and plenty of water offered, but playing outside in the heat of summer is good for a kid. I grew up in the hot, humid south and my home didn’t have air condition.
At least all year round school has some research evidence of utility. The “balanced” calendar does not.
A wise man once made up the phrase, “As Karass goes, so goes the northside of Decatur”.
And let me just go on the record to say that I only support year-round school because I don’t understand why I should oppose it, other than because everyone else does.
They should just go to a year round calender and be done with it. Not many farmhands around these parts.
Does starting after Labor Day have proven utility? Beyond vacationing with yankee cousins?
No, for my part, it’s a personal preference not based based on student performance. However, some on this blog are arguing for it based on the heat risk to athletes, discomfort, and energy costs. I like arguments that support my personal preference but I do not know how valid they are.
I do think it’s fine that kids play for a little bit in this heat, but don’t forget that the air quality is worse today than it was when we were kids!
Nuh uh! Not saying air quality can’t get better, but overall air quality continues to improve. Better now than it was when I was a child in the 70’s.
Reports are circulating from several FAVE bus routes that morning pickups were late or never happened on the first day of school. Claims from ???? that buses went by early and found no children do not seem plausible since families out at the stops between 7:00 and 7:45 for buses for other schools never saw “early” FAVE buses. FAVErs riding some bus routes did not get home until 4:50 or, in one case, 5:00 PM (school ends at 3:45 PM). Parents picking up children observed that, for some reason, a bus or two full of kids waited in the heat for a really long time, like 1/2 hour, at FAVE before pulling out.
My guess is that the usual first week of CSD school bus route confusion has been compounded by the volume and newness of the FAVE routes and it will all get ironed out soon. But it’s awfully hot and steamy weather to have people waiting at bus stops or children sitting on buses. And we don’t want bus riders to get discouraged and resort to one child/one minvan commuting.
To their credit, the bus drivers have been reportedly apologetic and assuring folks that they will let Central Office know about trouble with the routes.
The reason why the buses sat there for 1/2 an hour before taking off was because the car rider line at 3:38 was backed up as far as a block or so down Oakview blocking the buses from leaving. The turn around loop designed to expedite kids from cars is great in theory and would work beautifully at locations that have more room but this one is too small and the traffic too great. Did they actually do any traffic studies before settling on this location? The other problem is that even the staff on car rider duty don’t know the rules for going through the turn around. It would appear that you can only turn into the turn around loop if you are coming from Oakview. I came in from the opposite side and tried to turn left into the loop and it took an act of Congress to get me through. (Scratch that, Congress is so lame they couldn’t even do that!) There was and still is NO communication about this procedure from the school, which is surprising considering our Principal is the former Communications Dir for CSD. Disclaimer to judgemental do gooders: I was picking up 5 students who live 3.6 miles away from FAVE.
It’s important that CSD work out the bus situation real quick or parents and children will lose patience and start to drive more which will only exacerbate the car rider line problem. It could become a viscious circle.
I have never even considered putting my kid on a bus in this heat in the afternoon. Maybe when it cools off in September.
Someone should measure the temp in the buses in the afternoon while they sit in the August sun. I bet it’s 100 or better.
It’s worked ok when buses were on tight schedules with open windows and air blowing through while the bus is in motion. One of my children has loved bus riding. But buses building up hot stagnant air while idling in the heat and humidity of a deep South summer is not good for children. I am even more worried about the health of the bus drivers.
Hmmm…sure would be nice if we started after Labor Day. Then we’d have 30 fewer days of this nonsense in the oppressive heat. Just sayin’.
Of course, football schedules would never allow for such a thing.
My 2 cents as a parent of three:
Some of us would rather have a week off in September (Fall Break) than the hottest week of the year in August. When it’s this hot, kids don’t go outside, they stay inside and play video games. I’m looking forward to our beach vacation in September that will be cheaper and less crowded (off season) than if we were there this week.
As far as electricity use, think of the public transit theory – it is more economical to have the air conditioning running at a brand new, energy efficient school than hundreds of less energy efficient old houses (not to mention the front doors that accidentally get left open).
Finally, why do we even have buses for the middle and high schools? No one lives more than 2 miles from the middle/high schools, which is well within the capabilities of 11-18 year olds. When my kids were at Glenwood, it was quicker to get there by bike than by car.
3 kids? Why would you outnumber yourself? Unless you’re practicing polygamy. In that case, rock on.
+1 for fall break
You all just have to go north for your August vacations! New England and the Northwest are gorgeous in August with long summer evenings! But go early in August, by the end, the leaves are changing color! Did you ever wonder why all the back to school materials show fall leaves and colors? That’s because most parts of the country start school in September and the leaves are already changing.
“Did you ever wonder why all the back to school materials show fall leaves and colors?” Um, no. When you grow up in the South, you very aware of Northeastern cultural bias in all things media.
There’s a strong California bias too. I lived in NYC and then Los Angeles. At that time, I claimed that you have to live in both to truly understand American TV, movies, and music!
And yet, I submit that living in both places is no guarantee that one will achieve such understanding.
But it does explain the disconnect between fall colors/leaves on back to school materials and starting school on August 2. Not sure it’s a cultural bias, although plenty of cultural biases about the South exist. Most parts of the country start school later than we do in Metro Atlanta, hence retailers use a fall theme. It’s not profitable for them to change their materials just for part of the South.
I think what WinnonaMom was saying…what I’m saying, at any rate….is, Welcome to our disconnect!
I don’t think the stereotypical seasonal imagery represents a cultural bias against the South but, rather, an obliviousness that permeated media and marketing over time so that the “classic” or “traditional” motif for back-to-school involves autumn leaves even though the vast majority of the continental US doesn’t see leaf colors change until October or later; for Christmastime, snow, even though vast swaths of the country hardly ever see snow, at Christmastime or any other time; for Easter, spring flowers and warming weather, even though huge portions of the country are either already baking or still peeking out of snowdrifts at that season. It’s possible that only those of us who know the childhood frustration of wearing shorts and t-shirts to put up the Christmas tree can really understand this. I remember being deeply worried about how Santa could possibly land his sleigh on the roof when there was no snow. That scars a child!
True. There was nothing worse than celebrating the holidays in shorts than learning that in Florida, they decorate palm instead of pine trees for the holidays. Bummer.
Los Angeles, especially West L.A., is the funniest place for the holiday stereotypes because the weather literally never changes there. Foggy in the morning, hot and dry in the afternoon, cool in the evening, every single day. But out come the Christmas sweaters and storefront snow scenes nonetheless in December! There are the Santa Ana winds and a brief rainy season but they don’t fit any holiday conventions.
If we are going to wait until leaves start to change color to start school we will be starting around Halloween . . .
+1