Black Mountain Primary School updates procedure following parent’s petition
By Kari Barrows
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BLACK MOUNTAIN, North Carolina (WLOS) — There’s a new school-level procedure allowing parents to walk their kids to school at Black Mountain Primary School.
It comes after one parent was told she was not allowed to walk her daughter to school because she lived beyond the half-mile permitted boundary.
The parent then started a petition asking for a change.
Friday, the school said it will allow walking from farther away.
School officials did ask parents to follow several measures traveling to and from school.
A spokesperson for Buncombe County Schools shared the following information with News 13 on Friday regarding Black Mountain’s change:
Below is the modified procedure from the principal, Kelly Owen. The change was made in consultation with the School Safety Team, School Advisory Council, and School Improvement Team. The change also includes clear parameters to maintain a safety protocol.
In an effort to help accommodate parents who live or work within walking distance from Black Mountain Primary, the School Improvement Team with input from stakeholders has devised a plan to reinstate walking. In order to ensure all safety parameters are covered, we ask the parents/community to consider the following:
With limited staffing in the mornings and afternoons, please consider volunteering to open car doors, stand near entrances, and help families cross busy streets. Contact the office to volunteer. During morning arrival, parents must walk their children all the way to the front doors of the school. Please use sidewalks and crosswalks when available. Afternoon dismissal is much busier than the mornings and we need to take a few extra steps to ensure students are being released to an appropriate and approved adult. When we dismiss our 1st bus students at 2:30 pm, we will also dismiss walkers to room 300 (located in the first grade building). A staff member will be there to help dismiss those students. Parents will need to approach the room using sidewalks around the rear of the school (N. Charlotte St) or from Ridgeway Avenue. Foot traffic does not need to travel through the car traffic at the front of the school. Parents/guardians will line up down the sidewalk that is behind the first grade building. The yellow tag with the student’s name must always be presented to the staff member before the child is released. If the adult picking up the child does not have a yellow tag, they will be asked to go to the office and provide identification. Walkers will depart the same way they arrive as to not have foot traffic and car traffic in the same areas. Students will have a brown walker tag on their bookbags. Please do not remove these. To respect nearby businesses, please do not park in their lots as well as on the side of the road in an effort to avoid the car line. Please refrain from congregating after picking up your child. Children must always be accompanied by an adult. A signed permission form/agreement must be on file in the office in order for a child to be a walker.
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