BERLIN – Town officials are expected to ask parents to help address overcrowding at the Cannery Village school bus stop.
During Monday’s Berlin Town Council meeting, Councilman Elroy Brittingham said a community member had expressed concern about the disorganization of the children at the school bus stop at the entrance to Cannery Village.
“They’re all over,” Brittingham said. “There’s no organization of the kids. He’s wondering if the developer would be willing to create some kind of bus stop at the beginning of the entrance to try to control where they stand.”
Police Chief Arnold Downing said he was aware of the situation.
“We know we have an issue with kids coming en masse,” he said. “We’re talking about loads of kids getting on all at one time and getting off all at one time. The buses come empty and leave full.”
He said the issue was worse in the afternoon, as students returned from school, than it was in the morning. He suggested the town approach management at Cannery Village to ask that parent volunteers be found to stand with the children as they got on and off the school buses.
Downing said the situation at Cannery Village was no different than what occurred at apartment complexes on nearby Bay Street.
“We have the exact same thing on Bay Street,” he said. “The thing of it is, is we actually have parents there standing with the kids.”
He added that while parents of elementary school students often waited for the bus with their child, that wasn’t the case with older children.
“With bigger kids you end up with a different dynamic,” Downing said.
Mayor Gee Williams said that while the Cannery Village developer was not local and would find it hard to manage the issue from more than 100 miles away, neighborhood residents could address it.
“The parents and neighbors, I think have a very vested interest, a real interest, in the safety of the children and the entire situation,” he said.
Williams said the town couldn’t “do everything for everybody.”
“I think this is a case where citizens need to step up and help resolve the situation …,” Williams said. “It’s not our function to be the parents.”
