Safe Driving at Maranacook

A Public Safety Reminder from RSU 38

Every school day, our students, staff, and families share Millard Harrison Drive and Route 17 with school buses, neighbors, delivery drivers, and travelers passing through Readfield. The minutes around arrival and dismissal are among the busiest — and most dangerous — moments on the road for our entire community.

Recent reports have raised serious concerns about driving behavior in and around the Maranacook campus. The behaviors of greatest concern include:

• Pulling out onto Route 17 without stopping or yielding to oncoming traffic

• Speeding through the lower parking lot, where students and staff are on foot

• Swerving around stopped vehicles and school buses

• Running stop signs on the campus loop

• Accelerating onto Route 17 well above the posted speed limit

• Crossing the double yellow line, including passing a stopped school bus

Any one of these choices can cause a crash. Together, in the few minutes between the dismissal bell and an empty parking lot, they put real lives at risk.

What we are asking of every driver on our campus

Obey the posted speed limit on campus and on Route 17. Come to a complete stop at every stop sign. Yield to buses, pedestrians, and crossing guards. Never cross a double yellow line, and never pass a school bus with red lights flashing — under Maine law, the consequences include substantial fines and the suspension of your driver's license. Put your phone down, buckle up, and wait until it is genuinely safe to pull onto Route 17.

To our student drivers

You have earned the privilege of driving yourself to and from Maranacook. That privilege rests on a daily choice to drive in a way that respects everyone else on the road — your classmates walking through the lot, the bus carrying your younger neighbors, the driver coming around the curve on Route 17 who cannot see you until you are already in their lane. Slow down. Look twice. Wait for your turn. The few seconds you save by cutting a corner are not worth what they could cost. Under district policy, student parking on campus is a privilege that can be revoked for misuse.

To our parents and guardians

Please have a direct conversation with your student this week about the realities of driving in and out of campus. Reinforce the rules of the road — and the bigger lesson behind them: a single moment of impatience or poor judgment behind the wheel can change a life forever.

To our community

If you observe unsafe driving on or near campus, please report it to the School Resource Officer, Deputy Brandon Van Wyk (207-685-4923 x 1029). The concerns raised are taken seriously, and we are coordinating with local law enforcement to increase awareness in this area.

Keeping our community safe takes all of us. Thank you for helping make every trip in and out of Maranacook a safe one.