General (10)
Susana Barrios
From:Lynne Watkins <dl-watkins@sbcglobal.net>
Sent:Tuesday, October
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Fw: Prep Charter School
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----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Lynne Watkins <
To:
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at 10:07:52 AM PDT
Subject: Prep Charter School
Please vote No on this when it comes up again. It bothers me that
a school has been denied here twice in the past and yet Prep
Charter thinks their school can be the exception. Having a charter
school in the neighborhood would be wonderful but that is not a
safe location for one. The traffic flow plan might work in an ideal
world but having worked at a private school (285 students) in Tustin
for 8 years I learned that most people think the rules don't apply to
them. It took every staff member with walkie talkies being out with
the kids at dismissal time and still it didn't run smoothly. Parents
come early to be at the head of the line. Kids forget stuff and have
to go back to their room. Parents want to stop to talk to each other
or teachers. Kids are walking in front of cars. Kids need to be
buckled into safety seats. Kids need help carrying all their
stuff. Someone different picks up the kids and doesn't know the
routine. If someone is slow at the front of the queue, no one else
can move until they do. All of these situations led to the lines
backing up out to the street, something the police didn't like. If
traffic spills on to Wagner, it will back up into the turn lane at
Marjan. Can drivers be trusted to not park on Marjan or Rio Vista
or to not make u-turns on Rio Vista? I doubt it. Making the Ames,
Marjan, Lizbeth loop through our neighborhood is not desirable
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either. I foresee many impatient drivers doing pickups and
dropoffs on Rio Vista. The school says it will monitor all of these
things but what are their solutions if their plan doesn't work?
I am concerned about the small area to be used as a playground in
the front of the building, right where several accidents occurred
involving cars missing the sharp turn and crashing through the
plants and fence at that spot.
I'm concerned for the neighbors backing up to the
school parking lot that will have to deal with noise
and exhaust from idling cars.
Where is the off-site parking for large parent/child gatherings? Are
people really going to want to wait for a shuttle ride back and forth
or will they park on Rio Vista and Marjan instead? How many
people can a shuttle carry on each trip? They may have a long
wait.
I urge all council members to visit the site before they vote on
the Prep Charter School. Just saying that a school in my
neighborhood has no traffic problem isn't enough. Every location is
unique and must be seen. The council members who
took the time to personally visit the site before
voted No. School applications for this location
have been denied in the past and conditions have
not changed. Please vote No again on the Prep
Charter School.
Thank you,
Lynne Watkins
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