Incidents involving dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) have raised safety concerns among members of the public and elected officials across the Capital Region. Now, Mohonasen schools is trying to address dirt bike issues.
“Our primary concern is the safety of our kids,” said Marc Vachon, Pinewood Elementary School physical education teacher.
The dirt bikes are not where they’re supposed to be.
“They’re the only fields we have and if they make divots, it creates a safety hazard for the kids with their ankles,” Vachon explained.
Teachers and administrators at the elementary school in Rotterdam have noticed an uptick of people riding dirt bikes and four-wheelers across school grounds.
“Last night, in particular, we had open houses and we had dirt bikes outside our classrooms,” Pinewood Principal Jason Thompson said.
It’s forced Thompson to send an urgent message to the community.
“Think before you act,” he said.
He said usually right around dismissal, the riders emerge from a wooded area behind the school where there are walking trails.
"I have a suspicion that it's probably older students, or maybe in that 16 to 20 range,” Thompson said.
It’s an issue Thompson and others at the school are familiar with.
“It was a couple years ago, it happened before the end of the day, and the kids were scared," Vachon said. "I had a lot of kids in tears coming up to me. They didn’t quite know what to do. And the dirt bike did not slow down. It sped up after they made eye contact with me.”
School officials are working with the Rotterdam Police Department to try and curb the trend, and have some other ideas to mitigate the issue.
“We’re also going to put barriers there to make it more difficult for people to use the motorcycles and dirt bikes on the trails,” Thompson said.