First day at school one to remember for some Oakville PS parents as Council rangers hand out fines

“Give us a break,” said Hawkesbury councillor Nathan Zamprogno this morning as Council rangers pounced on parents – many of them delivering their children to school for the very first time – and slapped several of them with fines.

“I think it was very poor form to see Council rangers fining people outside Oakville school this morning on what is for some their first day back – or first day ever, for Kindy,” said the councillor this morning.

“Some parents are just working out how the parking zones work for the first time,” he said on the Oakville and District Residents Facebook page.

“Worse, Oakville has no kiss-and-drop zone. Give us a break. I’ll be providing feedback to Council.”

Oakville PS doesn’t have a school crossing for parents and children to safely cross the road, and there are hardly any pathways either and no specified kiss and drop zone.

Parents also commented on social media this morning with one saying, “it’s a bloody disgrace. My son started Kindy there this morning and it was crazy. Nearly an accident on Oakville Road with cars going round another car (into oncoming traffic) that stopped in the middle of the road to let kid out.”

That sort of traffic situation might well be one of the reasons Council rangers were out there this morning handing out fines.

Another mum said, “The parking is horrible. I had to park so far away and then walk along the road with 2 small kids as there is no foot paths. The crossing of the roads in the morning and afternoon is also another safety issue, why hasn’t anything been done it’s a school of over 400 and there is no where to cross safety with kids.”

But one social media commentator thought it was a good idea the parking rangers were there taking action.

“We had a lot of kids out the front and every car thinks they can just pull in and drop off. These Kindy kids are still learning the drop off and pick up area, and what if someone was hit by a car? I was very happy with the council ranger today.”

Cllr Zamprogno, who as an Oakville resident knows the school and the traffic issues well, says he will bring the overall situation up at the next local traffic committee meeting.

“I’ve been advocating for footpath works since last [Council] term and I’m fighting to get it on council’s works program. The addition of a kiss and drop zone would be a sensible addition, in my opinion. I was working with the school’s P&C last year on footpaths and had their complete support and I will continue to push this until we see improvements.”

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