Editor's note: This story was changed on Feb. 14, 2024 to clarify advice given by the school to parents.
Cindy Saramago is just one of dozens of parents who spend an hour or more each day sitting in a line of cars, trying to pick up their kids from St. Charles Catholic School in Bradford.
Despite being built relatively recently in 2022, the school’s pick-up area (sometimes called a kiss and ride) only has room for about 20 to 25 cars and is regularly overwhelmed with traffic. This leads to vehicles lined up out onto Simcoe Road, or double parked beside the pick-up area, according to Saramago, the mother of four children — an infant, a toddler and two older children who attend the elementary school.
“The lot is a mess. It’s overrun by cars leading all the way to the road. We have nowhere to park or wait. Parents are arriving as early as 1:30 (p.m.) to get a spot on the kiss and ride,” Saramago said, even though most students aren’t dismissed until 3 p.m.
That eventually led school staff to issue a notice to parents in November, informing them they could face fines for parking incorrectly and illustrating where parking is permitted.
“I have been very conscious about letting the school community know about where and how to park,” principal Cassandra Medve-Racine said via email. “We genuinely do not want our families to receive fines, which is why we have been so clear and open about the expectations.”
Despite that notice, the problem persisted and eventually, school staff called the town’s bylaw enforcement for help, which has led to parents receiving tickets ranging from $75 for most infractions to $350 for blocking the fire route.
While Saramago understands the importance of the bylaws, she feels parents are being put in an unfair position.
“(Enforcement) have been ruthless, disrespectful and not compassionate at all. Parents have been given $350 tickets for simply picking up their kids,” she said.
While school staff say they only called once in November, the town’s enforcement division explained they visit schools on a rotating basis and St. Charles has been prioritized for more frequent visits based on complaints, historical issues, reported incidents and site observations.
While the number of tickets issued at St. Charles wasn’t available, “at this school specifically, BWG’s enforcement division has adopted an approach of escalating response,” and officers “have had to issue tickets, especially in recurring situations where public education efforts and warnings were previously issued.”
Meanwhile, the school continued to send out notices to parents informing them of the issue, including two letters in December and another in January.
Additionally, Medve-Racine said the school worked with enforcement staff to establish an alternate parking area along Tiberini Way, but parents who spoke to BradfordToday said it was just as congested.
In January, Saramago began sending letters about the issue to school staff and the local trustee of the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, but felt the responses amounted to little more than being told to walk.
School staff have been encouraging families who live in the walk zone to carpool or walk to school as much as possible, according to the principal, who noted there are also families currently eligible for busing who choose to drive their children to school instead.
“We have contacted all of these families to ask them to reconsider,” Medve-Racine said.
Despite those efforts, the situation continued to escalate until members of South Simcoe Police Service eventually visited St. Charles on Thursday Feb. 1, around 3:15 p.m. in response to a report of a dispute, in which police said an enforcement officer had been allegedly assaulted but was uninjured.
While no charges have been laid so far, police said the investigation is ongoing.
Driving people crazy
The problem started in fall 2023, as more parents began driving to drop off or pick up their kids from school, after busing services were reduced.
When the school opened in 2022, a special exemption from the Ministry of Education temporarily extended bus eligibility to some of the school’s students who wouldn’t normally qualify, as ongoing development in a nearby neighbourhood made it unsafe for them to walk.
However, with safety improvements made and sidewalks installed, the Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium returned to applying the typical elementary walk zone of 1.6 km, in September 2023.
Students living within that distance from the school are not eligible for the regular school bus — something the school board said they communicated to parents on multiple occasions.
However, not all parents are comfortable with the idea of walking their young children to school.
“It’s not a one-size fits-all solution. I can’t walk with a newborn and a toddler,” Saramago said. “I don’t care if I’m two minutes away, I’m not going to walk in -25 degree weather. They can’t be using that as their only solution.”
Another parent, Melissa Pompeo, works from home and spends her lunch hour waiting to pick up her two young twins from school each day.
“I live off of the 6th Line, so it’s a farther walk. It’s 20 minutes for me to walk, but for them, it’s probably 40,” she said. “For me it would be fine, but for me to drag my kids everyday that’s another story. Then add the weather, and plus, I’m working.”
Melissa Zeppieri has two children who attend the school, as well as a three-year-old son whom she can’t leave alone.
“I’m here at 2:05 (p.m.), because if you get here at 2:15 (p.m.), you’re down there,” she said, pointing across the driveway at Simcoe Road on an unusually warm and sunny February day. “Today yeah, people can walk, but still, why should we walk if we don’t want to walk?”
However, schools are not responsible to provide parking for families who choose to drive students to and from school, according to Pauline Stevenson, manager of communications and strategic initiatives for the catholic school board.
“The issues facing St. Charles aren’t unique — schools are not planned or built to accommodate the increase in traffic that they are currently experiencing,” she said.
The board is continuing to work with municipalities and the health unit to help address the driving-based mindset, according to Stevenson, who emphasized a “notable shift” away from active transportation in recent years.
“In many communities, it has gotten to the point where unsafe practices and traffic volume in school zones have become a significant concern, disruption and distraction,” she said.
Searching for solutions
So far, the school has tried to mitigate the situation by asking those parents who drive but can’t find a spot in the pick-up area to find legal parking farther away, and parents recalled bylaw officers suggesting they continue circling, rather than parking illegally.
However, parents say that only makes things worse.
“When bylaw is present, it turns into mayhem. They expect no stopping in the fire zones,” Pompeo said. “As they’re circling the kids are coming out. Someone’s going to get hurt. It’s unsafe.”
She would like to see staggered dismissal times or a dedicated pick-up area for younger students, as it’s not until Grade 4 that they’re typically permitted to walk to or from school on their own, and younger students aren’t released without a parent or guardian present.
Zeppieri on the other hand, just wants schools designed with a place for parents to park.
“Just make another parking lot. Just put something somewhere. You’ve got all that field,” she said. “If you can’t make a place for parents to go, just let us do what we have to do.”
Saramago launched an online petition via Change.org on Jan. 12 pushing for a new lot, but Stevenson doesn’t see “mall-sized parking lots” as the solution.
“It is just not realistic to build schools and parking lots to accommodate all the people who live in walk zones,” she said, adding schools are designed with adequate parking, bus loops and pick-up areas.
Instead, Stevenson explained the board is working to find other solutions, such as alternative designated parking areas.
“Regardless of what we do, we need active modes of transportation, such as walking or biking to school, to be part of the solution. There isn’t one quick fix — everyone needs to be part of the solution,” she said.
Medve-Racine added the school is already working with the board’s Safe Schools Team to help address concerns, and they will be conducting a traffic study at the school in the coming weeks. The school has also applied to be part of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s On the Move program, which helps schools develop strategies for active travel.
Saramago recalled parents were previously allowed to park along Simcoe Road and walk up the school.
“Obviously it was still dangerous because it was an active lane, one lane in each direction, but it worked,” she said.
All of the parents who spoke to BradfordToday agreed there needs to be some sort of meeting between parents and school staff.
“If they would at least be open to receiving recommendations and hearing the parents, instead of just labelling us as entitled or something, we would all be together and work on solutions,” Saramago said.
While Medve-Racine said she has been and will continue to be open to suggestions from families, the principal is also already working toward creating an active travel committee including parents, staff and community partners.
“It is my hope that it will look at all aspects of this issue and make recommendations that will eventually help alleviate the concerns,” she said.
Another letter was sent home to parents on Wednesday, Feb. 7 detailing those plans and again reminding parents of parking restrictions.
