Yellow school buses rolled out of the district's lot on Edes Court this morning, and black-and-whites were circulating the city as Morgan Hill Unified School District students returned to the classroom.
"The sergeants will have their officers going out there to the schools to do what we call directed enforcement," Morgan Hill police Special Operations Sgt. Jerry Neumayer said. "They'll be taking out their radar guns and looking for motorists who are speeding and looking for red light violations."
Neumayer said officers are not going to focus on parking problems, unless vehicles are blocking lanes or driveways.
"The problems are mainly going to be in the school lots, with many parents wanting to take their children the first day or two," he said. "Particularly Nordstrom, on East Dunne Avenue, because there's not a large lot there. We will likely have one of our traffic guys out there during school start and end times for a few days."
Police want to remind Morgan Hill residents, particularly those that will be traveling to work during the morning as school opening bells are ringing that there will be lots of students out walking and biking to school, some of them small and inexperienced at crossing streets by themselves. Residents should slow down, certainly in school zones but even in residential areas not covered by the zones, and be on the alert for students, Neumayer said.
Commuters and parents and students traveling to schools should plan for a longer trip time to their destination due to the extra traffic on the road, he added.
"People should allow for extra time to adjust to the additional traffic," he said. "Traffic's going to be bogged down a bit, particularly in areas around Live Oak (High School) and Sobrato (High School)."
Drivers should be particularly alert around Live Oak. A temporary student drop-off pattern will be in place for much of the school year, since the front of the school on Main Avenue is under construction.
To drop off students, parents will be directed to an access road just east of the school on Main between the front entrance to the school and the staff parking lot entrance. A specific student drop-off area is designated, and parents will continue driving north and exit on Half Road behind the campus. Multiple signs will be posted along the new route, and a map with detailed information is available on the school Web site http://liveoakhs.ca.campusgrid.net/home.
There also will be student drivers in those areas, and some of them may be newly-licensed and unused to dealing with heavy traffic situations, so caution and patience are advised.
Just as drivers should be patient and cautious, so should students entering their schools - some of which are construction zones. PA Walsh Elementary School's boys will enjoy a new restroom in the upper grade quad, which was out of commission during the last months of last school year. At Barrett Elementary School, Room 18 will be converted to a computer lab. Nordstrom Elementary School will get a new portable, and has already been repainted and the roofs of three buildings were replaced over the summer.
Reporter Natalie Everett contributed to this story.
Marilyn Dubil Marilyn Dubil is a freelance writer for The Times.
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