Lowell Locked Down Midday, Left Families Frustrated

A widely used elementary school had been closing its gates this summer by 4 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends, neighborhood parents believed, to prevent possible criminal activity on campus grounds, much to the frustration of families who rely on its recreational areas.

Lowell Bayside Academy, an elementary school located in the heart of Belmont Shore’s residential area, provides parents and their kids with vast stretches of blacktop, basketball and foursquare courts, hopscotch squares, tether ball poles, playgrounds and monkey bars. With the school closing down in the middle of the day ever since its last day of school on June 16, families had fewer fun and safe options for outdoor activities.

Maria Feldman, a mother of a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old who discovered the playground closures during the last week of June, emailed parents in the community to inform them of the problem. She wrote that there had been no explanation given to the community except for some “rumblings of ‘problems’” that the school has “had with vandals.” 

During a brief interview on July 5, Feldman further explained that she suspected a recent attempted theft of the school’s brand new Apple computers to be the culprit of the new change in summer hours. This same day in July, concerned parents from the neighborhood planned to attend the regular school board meeting at 5 p.m.  School board member Jon Meyer, who represents Belmont Shore, whom they had bombarded with emails, was to address the issue.

Renee Moreno, a mother of three, felt that locking the gates to thwart misconduct was not the correct solution. She couldn’t remember the school being closed so early or often during summers past. There were many watchful families in the neighborhood, she said, adding, “We’re a good school deterrent here for suspicious activity.” Whenever she noticed anything strange, she called the police, but now she couldn’t even do that much because it was impossible see what was happening behind closed gates.

Over the July 4th weekend, she witnessed parents bring their kids to the school to play, but they had to turn away when they realized they had no access to school grounds. “We have 15 kids on this road, ages 11 and under,” Moreno said. “There are a lot of kids that utilize this school to play. There were a lot of parents who brought their kids over the weekend to shoot hoops or pitch ball.”

Nearby parks didn’t make good alternatives, she added. “They have no basketball courts. There’s no room for older kids.”
   
Judy Gwinn, who lives across the street from the school, has run a daycare for the past 30 years. The early weekday and full weekend closures had been hard on her and her kids because she no longer has the option of taking them to the school playground. 
“To have the school locked up is really sad,” she said.

Robb Hamilton, a father of two boys, a two-year-old and a four-year-old, moved to his current home close to Lowell partly because his family would have easy access to a playground. “We’ve gotten used to this school being open.” He was one of many parents who wrote to Meyer, telling him, “Please reconsider this new policy, which punishes our kids and does nothing to actually address real issues.”

“This is a community issue,” said Feldman. “I just feel that we shouldn’t be locked out. It’s not right.”

Mere minutes before Feldman and several parents left for the school board meeting, they were surprised to learn that their wishes had just been granted. Feldman received a call from Meyer himself, and he had good news for her: she didn’t have to attend the meeting because the issue had instead been resolved that very morning in a closed board meeting. He told her that the school would no longer be closed at 4 p.m. on weekdays and all weekend. Feldman quickly called parents from the neighborhood to inform them of the great news--and they need not make a trip across town for the meeting.

Thomas Hickman, LBUSD’s chief of school safety and preparedness, explained Tuesday evening that the main reason behind the school’s early closures was a scheduling conflict with the custodians. Instead of their usual late evening time, they had been scheduled to end their shift in the afternoon.

“Locking down the school is one of the last things they’re supposed to do before they leave,” said Hickman.

He also explained that during the last few weekends, security found older teenagers and young adults drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana on school grounds. After removing them from campus, the security would lock the gates to prevent them from returning.

Hickman explained that the gates will now remain unlocked every day until 8:30 p.m., and residents who notice any suspicious activity should call (562) 997-8101 to alert the school safety supervisor.

Within two and a half weeks, families of the Belmont Shore community around Lowell Bayside Academy realized a problem, mobilized, and achieved their goal. The LBUSD’s decision to keep the gates unlocked till late evening marked a proud win for all.

“This is wonderful,” said Feldman. “[Meyer] told me that he had never received so many emails regarding a single issue.”