Parent parking at Thornhill's Baythorn Public School upsets crossing guard
Blocked lanes, illegal parking, horns honking, people driving while on cellphones among issues

Yorkregion.com
Tim Kelly
Dec. 6, 2017

Blocked lanes, stop signs blown through, illegal parking, horns honking, people driving while on cellphones, kids not buckled into car seats.

All within metres of a public elementary school as students exit for the day.

It's a daily occurrence at Thornhill's Baythorn Public School, located in the Yonge Street and Royal Orchard Boulevard area.

Cindy Thompson, a crossing guard who has worked within metres of the school for four years, said she feels as though "a target" is on her back.

And she has seen all kinds of unsafe driving behaviour by parents.

"I'm a protective bear mom. I've seen them do stupid things like blow stop signs, do U-turns by a crosswalk and I think, 'Who taught you how to drive?' Where do people get their licences from?"

Thompson worries for her own safety and that of the children.

She peers over the large SUVs parked illegally along Baythorn and fears that with vehicles illegally parked on both sides of the street, it’s only a matter of time before a child who crosses away from the crosswalk to meet a car, gets hit.

While a reporter and photographer watched school let out last Friday, Thompson even had to shoo away a car that had parked right on her crosswalk, lined up behind four other illegally parked cars ignoring posted signs.

Asked why she stopped in the middle of a lane, her SUV blocking one of the two lanes of Baythorn in front of the school, a woman replied: "That's what we've been told. You're not allowed to park on the other side, but people do."

" (Baythorn Drive) is only a two-way (street), so anything close to the school, they're not allowed to park between 8 and 9 a.m. and 2:30 to 3:30 p.m."

Asked why parents do it, Thompson said, "They're lazy."

Indeed, seven or eight vehicles obey the no-parking/no-stopping signs on Baythorn and park just a short block away on Donalbain Crescent, which has plenty of space for many vehicles to park.

Jen, a mom who parked on Donalbain and walked a couple of minutes to the school to get her child, thinks the parking mess in front of Baythorn P.S. isn’t good for anyone.

"It's terrible and it's not a good example for the kids," she said.

Markham’s acting director of bylaw enforcement, Chris Alexander, agrees there’s a real parent parking problem at Baythorn.

“It’s a problem at that school. We’ve identified it as one of our Top 10 offenders (among about 90 schools in Markham) and it’s on the hit list for problems that we hear from residents or the school itself. We’re in the midst of doing an audit of that school.  We’ll be doing focused enforcement on it,” said Alexander.

He added that city bylaw officers would educate parents that they can’t park on either side of Baythorn between 8 and 9 a.m. and 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. and then “once we get the education component done, we will go in and issue tickets.” Those who park illegally will be ticketed $40, while those parked illegally in a fire zone can be hit with a $200 ticket.

The York Region District School Board said, while it doesn't have jurisdiction over crossing guards or bylaw enforcement, "our schools always encourage students and their families to follow the rules of the road and to walk and drive safely to and from school. We will continue to work with the City of Markham to increase awareness of the city’s bylaws and the school’s pickup and drop-off procedures."

Thompson also worries that emergency vehicles like fire trucks and ambulances may be impeded from getting down Baythorn Drive while parents park illegally during morning drop-off and evening pickup times.

“There are seniors all the way down the street here. One gentleman had cancer and had his nose removed. What if he can't get out? There is a 94-year-old just up the street,” she said. “You couldn't get an emergency vehicle up here,” she pointed out as a school bus had to cross into an opposite lane because illegally parked cars blocked its lane.

Dave Decker, Markham’s fire chief, said a fire prevention officer has been assigned to check Baythorn Drive during pickup and drop-off school times.

“Emergency vehicle access is a concern 24-7. Fire and other emergency vehicles do encounter access issues from time to time. On arrival at an incident, when access is impeded or blocked there may be a negative effect on the outcome.”

Thompson said she's complained to the school and even to the police, but it hasn't changed the behaviour of the parent parking rogues.

"Parents don't care how they pick up their kids, you'd think the first thing that would come to mind would be safety. I would say to them go down to the crosswalk and I'll pick you up around the corner," she said.