Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion (Left) Kelly DeSmidt, Sarah Williams and Sterling Elementary School Principal Denise Kelly hold signs depicting the School Zone's speed limit Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, outside Sterling Elementary in Sterling, Alaska.

Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion (Left) Kelly DeSmidt, Sarah Williams and Sterling Elementary School Principal Denise Kelly hold signs depicting the School Zone's speed limit Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, outside Sterling Elementary in Sterling, Alaska.

KPBSD school staff amp up safety watch

  • By Kelly Sullivan
  • Sunday, August 30, 2015 11:05pm
  • News

High-speed drivers failing to obey to signs and students are a problem every year for many Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools situated on busy roads.

Sterling Principal Denise Kelly took to the side of the Sterling Highway Friday morning, homemade sign in hand, in an attempt to slow down school zone traffic. Parents Sarah Williams and Kelly DeSmidt joined in the hand waving with their own painted cardboard, frustrated with the pervasive problem.

“You name it, I’ve seen it,” DeSmidt said.

She has four students at the school and said the family has to race across the road every morning to make it safely. She is also the co-owner of Sterling Tool and Equipment Rental, directly across the highway from the school. She said she counts between five to six cars every morning blowing through the school zone.

“People oblivious to the fact that we have a school on a highway,” Kelly said. “There is a level of decency people need to have as drivers.”

Kelly and DeSmidt have frequently called the Alaska State Troopers to send patrols to monitor hasty motorists, but said it never amounts to much. Kids start heading into school around 8:25 a.m., and finish nearly 20 minutes later, Kelly said.

DeSmidt said the responders have enough time to pull over one violator, and during the stop, the area again goes unwatched. She said she believes the school should post a trooper a couple of days each week to raise awareness that it is a school zone, which happens to be on a highway.

Sterling Elementary is not the only school with a main turn off is from a major roadway. Cooper Landing School, Tustumena Elementary and Ninilchik School all have parking lots right on the Sterling Highway.

Ninilchik School Principal Jeffrey Ambrosier said he has watched drivers hitting high speeds in a 20 mile-per-hour school zone outside the school for five years. He said he sees the length of the school zone as a contributing issue.

Extending the end lines would be helpful, Ambrosier said. Drivers don’t generally slow down before the speed limit changes, they slow down as they are passing it, he said. By that time they are already in front of the building.

“Maybe that’s something I need to look into, or we need to look into as a (school) district, or we can request that I don’t know,” Ambrosier said. “I would love to see the school zone extended by another 100 feet.”

Kelly and Ambrosier said they don’t have a chance to do much self-policing. They usually stand at the doors of their schools and either way, wouldn’t have enough time to write down license plates.

Kelly said she is worried about her students that walk and bike to school. Conor and Liam Boyd bike to get to class most days, and at the end of their route, have to cross the highway.

Conor Boyd said he likes the fresh air and that he gets to pass by his friend’s house on the way to school. The two will bike until it gets too cold. In the mean time, they report having had a few run-ins on the road. This year, Conor Boyd had to stop halfway across the highway when a driver sped up as he was already crossing. He said he had to wait for a few minutes in the middle of the road until a line of cars had passed.

Conor Boyd usually doesn’t see many bad drivers, “but there are a few bozos, that go through like ‘weee,’” he said, moving his hand forward in a straight line quickly, adding “sorry about the language but it’s true.”

Kelly said the school is going to have to put flaggers out every morning to make sure the kids that cross are safe. She said she hopes people will become more aware of where they are driving, and slow down for students.

 

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com

 

More in News

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

Architect Nancy Casey speaks in front of a small gathering at the Fireside Chat presented by the Kenai Watershed Forum on Nov. 30, 2022, at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum’s Fireside Chats return Wednesday

The chats will cover a range of interesting topics, centered on knowledge, research and projects

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Public comment accepted for proposed rate increases for overnight fees at refuge

Campsites would increase $5 per night and cabins would increase $10 per night

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Most Read