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Schools

In Batavia, the Worst Thing About Heading Back to School Is …

Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles residents fill in the blank on their least favorite thing about kids returning to the classroom.

By Ted Schnell

It was a simple enough request we posted Friday afternoon on the Facebook pages for Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles:

Fill in the blank: The worst thing about the kids going back to school in (Batavia/Geneva/St. Charles) is ________.

Within 12 hours, followers of the Facebook pages for Batavia PatchGeneva Patch and St. Charles Patch had logged in 42 responses. So it was that intrepid St. Charles Patch editor Ted Schnell sat down to sort through and to make sense of it all.

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Traffic, the return of school buses and — oh yes, no more sleeping in — were common refrains.

And then, of course, there’s the school zones that most people seem to slow down for, but where four-way stops suddenly become the setting for a game of chicken.

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“We have to slow down in school zones......lol lol,” Terry Jean Bradley-Stephano wrote on the Batavia Patch Facebook page.

Some had no complaints, like Cecily Nordstrom, who wrote on theBatavia Patch Facebook page, “nothing.”

Ben Ochoa wanted to expound upon that sentiment on theGeneva Patch’s Facebook page: “Nothing! It is the way of things. I can't imagine fall without the buzz of kids returning to school, the sound of high school sports, the rhythm to the day during the school year-while they're in school, home afterwards, etc.-if you've ever been off during weekdays, it's a whole different feel and rhythm to the day in the summer than during the school year. Everything from traffic, business in stores and restaurants, and the weekend rush has an immensely different feel to it. The best thing about them returning thought is the sports. At any level, but mostly the preps, where many towns get their identities. Plus it's also a general feeling of things moving in the right direction. My 2 cents.”

Some were eager for school to start, others not so much.

“didn't happen soon enough. Time for year round school,” Matt Duplack wrote on Batavia Patch’s Facebook page. But Lisa Foydelimmediately disagreed: “They go back too early in August!”

There also were laments, like that noted by Liz Hardiek Henkelman in Batavia, “realizing that summer will come to a close!”

Of course the start of school means children no longer will be out playing, walking, riding their bikes. “No one will be outside...turn into a ghost town,” noted Kathy Jean in Batavia.

There also are practical things to consider.

“Paying for registration and fees,” was the worst thing about the start of school for Jill Wagner Hall in Batavia.

“How much everything costs all at once! Especially if you have multiple kids!!,” wrote Tia Prince Srachta on St. Charles Patch’s Facebook page.


Up and At ’Em, Early


But some did note there will be challenges rising on the first day.

“Waking up early,” Tracy Ryder posted on St. Charles Patch’s Facebook page.

Betty Christensen The parents driving like maniacs getting them to school on time” and “Trying to get two crabby kids out of bed!!,” Jen Baxley Sunleaf posted on Batavia Patch’s Facebook page.

“No more sleeping in,” Jessica Ledlow Silha posted on Geneva Patch’s Facebook page.

“Making lunches!,” Heidi Kauss posted in Batavia.


Traffic Concerns


Many complained of traffic. It seems that no matter which of the Tri-Cities you live in, getting your kids to school on congested roadways in the morning, and then home in the afternoon — through congested streets at each school — is a pain:

Colleen Staniszewski posted, “Going down Main or Wilson at 2:35” in Batavia.

“3pm traffic near BHS,” Sue Clark Trillet posted on the Batavia Patch’s Facebook page.

Throw in a little (OK, a lot) of road construction on Route 64 (wrapping up this fall) and Route 38 in Geneva (just got started this summer), and that little jog across town gets a little aggravating.

Dub Randall posted to the St. Charles Patch’s Facebook page, “driving them down Route 64 to get there.”

“I agree. ...64 is terrible. ..,not looking fwd to that!” echoedKrista Oleksiak Lipnisky, also on the St. Charles Patch’s Facebook page.

And as if the traffic isn’t heavy enough already, some respondents pointed out that those big yellow school buses will be back eating up their own space on the pavement.


Other ‘Worsts’


But the list of worst things about the opening of school extended beyond traffic and the early start of the days ahead.

“Buying more shoes” … “And BULLIES,” Jill Atkins posted on St. Charles Patch’s Facebook page

Bonnie Harm Pechous My dog barking as the kids walk by. (Mine are college grads.). BTW, Kirk Rd is incredibly dangerous driving the kids to school. No cops watching. Be safe.

“No more daily house keepers, laundry folders and dinner starters,”Karen Gibbons Heuer posted in St. Charles.


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