The Farmingdale School District has put into action a traffic safety proposal focused on making changes aimed at creating a safer and more efficient drop-off route.

The Howitt Middle School parking lot has been improved with an additional crosswalk in front of the library. The surrounding area is fenced in to ensure that students walk within the designated crosswalk.

"Changes made to the parking lot - structural configurations of where the curbing was and the installation of the bollards [rigid posts arranged in a line to close a road to vehicles] - were done by the springtime," School Business Administrator Paul Defendini explained. "The fence was finished over the summer. Everything is in place for their entry in September."

In addition, a one-way traffic pattern was established within the parking lot, helping to make the area safer for the children. Superintendent John Lorentz said implementation of the new traffic pattern began at the end of the school year.

"Parents are aware because they were in effect for a portion of last year and worked well," he added.

When asked if this would alleviate the traffic problems at Howitt, Lorentz said they will always exist at Howitt "due to the location."

"Our experience so far has been that the pick-up and drop-off zones have been a help," he added.

In the fall of 2006, Defendini suggested to the Farmingdale Board of Education and Traffic Safety Committee that money used for this project be taken from money that was not used for heating bills and snow removal due to the mild winter weather during the months of December and January.

"The parking lot, fence, bollards and all the labor involved comes out to about $80,000," Defendini explained. "The way that we chose to do the fence minimized the amount of expense that we'll incur in the future."

The district expressed appreciation to the Traffic Safety Committee and the Village of Farmingdale for handling this issue in a timely manner, and making the changes necessary for the safety of the students.

Farmingdale Village Mayor George Graf, Superintendent of Buildings Ron Craig, Superintendent of Public Works Fred Zamparelle and Code Enforcement Chief Joann Edling attended a series of meetings and offered traffic flow suggestions and assistance.

"We have worked very closely with the board to make these things happen," Mayor Graf said. "Ron Craig helped work up the final look for channeling the traffic. We have also been using code enforcement to not ticket as much as remind people when they do stop to continue on. When you double park you endanger the other kids that are leaving."

Mayor Graf said he also worked on getting the Nassau County Police Department's 8th Precinct involved by placing a police car at Howitt when children are being dropped off in the morning.

"Some days it will be a marked car and some days an unmarked car," Mayor Graf explained. "It's amazing how people tend to conform when they see a police car in the vicinity."

In the past, the 8th Precinct has issued a number of tickets for moving violations, which Village Code Enforcement cannot issue.