The Yokosuka Sullivans School Student Drop-Off Plan



The diagram above shows the layout of The Sullivans Elementary School student drop-off plan for personal vehicles.

When dropping off your child, please adhere to the following procedures:

Parents dropping off children are to move their cars through the lane between the orange bollards pulling all the way forward up to the drop-off zone;

Children must exit the vehicle immediately after arriving at the drop-off zone;

Children must exit the vehicle on the left side only;

The drop-off zone is the only authorized area where children can exit the vehicle;

No parking of personal vehicles will be allowed on any section of the access street between the school and the parking garage;

Reserved parking on the first floor of the garage is designated for parents escorting children to class; and, pedestrians must stay on the painted walkway while inside the garage.

Pleae help me understand the pick up process.
This design is fine for drop off, but pick up, doesn't work, in fact, it is very dangerous for the kids because of moving cars.
Ocassionally I pick up our kids in inclement weather, neither need an escort, so our family has an arrangement if strong winds and/or heavy rain I will drive them because our on base home is far from the school. So 2 weeks ago with typhoon off shore, I arrived to pick them up at the drop zone, I was advised by security that I could not stop and wait for the kids. (I wasn't leaving the car). Keep moving or park in the garage. Our kids don't have cell phones, so how will they find me in the parking garage? At that point masses of kids were exiting school, so I was advised to keep circling (in the pouring rain, kids with umbrellas.... you get the picture) There were several parents circling through the drop off, onto the street, and around the garage, still circling until the busses started leaving, it was a disaster! Security said it was school policy, but when I talked to school admin office, they said it was designed by security. School personell agreed to keep moving during drop off OK, was but the process didn't make sense for pick up. I guess if all the kids are lined up waiting; they can jump in the car, and we could keep moving, but the way the lane is blocked with posts, if the first car in line doesn't have their kids, every car behind it is stuck. There must be as safer way to use this lane. This is going to encourage parents to p/u kids in residential parking zones. As for our family, this is only an occassional inconvenience, but for families who live off base, especially if they have infants, this is a ongoing headache. I can understand no parking, but what is the purpose of keeping that lane free of temporarily stopped cars?

Pleae help me understand the pick up process.
This design is fine for drop off, but pick up, doesn't work, in fact, it is very dangerous for the kids because of moving cars.
Ocassionally I pick up our kids in inclement weather, neither need an escort, so our family has an arrangement if strong winds and/or heavy rain I will drive them because our on base home is far from the school. So 2 weeks ago with typhoon off shore, I arrived to pick them up at the drop zone, I was advised by security that I could not stop and wait for the kids. (I wasn't leaving the car). Keep moving or park in the garage. Our kids don't have cell phones, so how will they find me in the parking garage? At that point masses of kids were exiting school, so I was advised to keep circling (in the pouring rain, kids with umbrellas.... you get the picture) There were several parents circling through the drop off, onto the street, and around the garage, still circling until the busses started leaving, it was a disaster! Security said it was school policy, but when I talked to school admin office, they said it was designed by security. School personell agreed to keep moving during drop off OK, was but the process didn't make sense for pick up. I guess if all the kids are lined up waiting; they can jump in the car, and we could keep moving, but the way the lane is blocked with posts, if the first car in line doesn't have their kids, every car behind it is stuck. There must be as safer way to use this lane. This is going to encourage parents to p/u kids in residential parking zones. As for our family, this is only an occassional inconvenience, but for families who live off base, especially if they have infants, this is a ongoing headache. I can understand no parking, but what is the purpose of keeping that lane free of temporarily stopped cars?

I understand your frustration. The drop off zone was designed not by security, but by the base safety office with input from the school administration.
Drop offs were full of near misses with kids exiting cars all over the road and darting in front of cars rushing off to work.
Afternoon pick up was not considered a problem by the school administration since so few parents were picking up and the preschool age children were gone by that time.
On rainy days the numbers of parents picking up truly increase and can be frustrating. Your options (other than doing the circle dance) would be to go ahead and get in line and if you have to wait consider it a minor inconvenience in order to keep your kids safe. (The rationale for the orange bollards is to keep kids from entering or exiting the cars in the traffic lane.) Parents are only supposed to pick up on the left. The other option you have is to park in the garage and have a designated meeting point.
Not smooth ,easy, or fun... but necessary.