Good news for some parents with kids at a Mauriceville Elementary School in Orange County. The Texas Department of Public Safety no longer plans to give out traffic tickets to parents who park on Highway 62 to pick up their kids at the school. The announcement follows a warning to parents last week that they would be ticketed.
At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, parents are already turning into the Mauriceville Elementary student pick-up line, a full hour before the last bell.
"I normally get here 30 minutes early to be on school property," said Cheryl Estes, one of the many mothers in line.
That's so she doesn't get stuck all the way on Highway 62, where she thought she might get a ticket.
"It almost feels like harassment to the parents that are trying to pick up their children in the afternoon; there's more parents that need to pick up their kids than there is room in the car lines," Estes said.
Late last week the DPS told the school it would start cracking down on parents waiting in line off of 62 for safety reasons, saying cars sticking out in the road are a hazard.
Another mom, Courtney Chisum, told us, "There's really nowhere else for us to sit to be able to wait for our children, so it kind of angers me that if I happen to be one of those unlucky people that land in that parking spot, and I receive a $225 ticket, I guess I'll be washing cars to pay for that ticket."
But this mom shouldn't have to be washing cars anytime soon. Later in the day DPS said they no longer plan to issue the tickets, and plans to work with the school district to figure out a solution.
Now Chisum doesn't have to resort to Plan B.
"I guess maybe circle around, waste some gas, I mean because it's so inexpensive right now," she joked.
The principal of Mauriceville Elementary School said the main goal of the school is to work with parents to figure out how to get students picked up in the safest, most efficient way possible.
The school has two committee meetings set for Wednesday after school. The issue of child pick-up, and the traffic conditions, is scheduled for discussion in both meetings.
