Cops ticket principal for school noise: Texas

[Cajungaltx]

Story Here

and

HERE

The short of it is that the cops issued a ticket to the principal for noise issues. The story says that this guy is the 'only' one that the school has complaining... but the school district put in a 7 foot fence, ripped out loud speakers (PA system) and soundproofed the basketball goals.

Maybe it's just me...but if only 'one' person is complaining about something... usually nothing happens.

I've read a ton of posts about this issue - basically attacking the guy who called the cops - even though the reported stories quote ANOTHER neighbor guy saying that it was louder than an Ozzie Osborne Mosh Pit... saying basically that he's an old grouch, and just doesn't want the kids to be 'kids'...

Maybe it's me... but I think if it's significant enough that the school district makes all those accommodations....it's a SIGNIFIGANT issue...

[KD5NRH]

IMO, the schools have gotten a lot worse, with PA systems around ball fields and huge light arrays even on junior highs. Our house is on the edge of town, and I can still hear every word of the high school and college's football game announcers. When we lived 5 miles out, we could actually hear them from the yard, but not make out most of the words.

[RadarPing]

My gut tells me there is something else underlying that the story isn't telling. I believe the complainant has ulterior motives here. If the story is accurate, the school has taken reasonable measures to abate the noise after receiving previous complaints. The officer states that the noise was not unreasonable at the time of the investigation. You have to remember, the officer isn't there to be the judge. They are there to present evidence or the lack there of before a judge / jury. That's what the courts are for. The citation is nothing more than a summons to appear before a judge. I have a feeling this will be thrown out.

[Dobick]

He would like the district to change a traffic pattern that has a long line of cars dropping off and retrieving children at the rear of the school

Each morning and afternoon there’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 208 cars that pass our bed,” Armstrong said.

He said the school was initially a pleasant neighbor but has grown in recent years, adding portable classrooms and more buses to accommodate extra students. Olympia has an enrollment of about 700 students, 200 of them added in the past five years, according to state data.

Looks to me like this is the rest of the story. The man used to live in a neighborhood where there wasn't all that much traffic and now there is a lot of traffic. the noise complaint is the only vector of attack for this. He can't really make a complaint to cops that people are driving in the streets, so he makes a complaint about subsequent noise. If they are willing to build a fence and all sorts of money on that, then with enough complaining, they will build another school, and close this one down. The school will then be closed and sold off or torn down, and his property values will go down, and he will have a whole other set of complaints.

Of course, that's just my opinion...

[OTRphoto]

My mom used to teach at that school.. and the school was there before the houses... so he bought his house knowing that he was buying next to a elem school playground.

If you buy a house next to a playground, park, train-tracks, airport etc - I don't think you can then later ask them to correct something that you KNEW was there... just because now 10 years later it starts to bug you!

[Jeff_Green]

Every city has a noise ordinance and if you are louder than that noise ordinance allows you get a ticket... school or not. It isn't complicated. It isn't an arbitrary standard I do not believe. Numbers are almost always listed as what is the maximum decibel level.

Schools are getting louder and expecting more of their community. Working for a school district we get requests all the time for speakers to be turned louder so that you can hear every announcement from the farthest part of the playground.

Some of it is required by the state under the "Shelter in Place" protection. The problem is that they now have speakers on every side of their buildings pointing every direction and they play music over them from time to time.

[hotshot38]

Reminds me of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs....it was there first. But, after you build a bunch of exclusive homed developments around it, well, the AF Academy now conducts it's glider pilot training one city away.

I watched the TV news on this particular school incident and there were a few things not mentioned here so far (and dependent on my failing memory). At the time of the complaint there was something going on to raise the noise level....a fair, fundraiser, or pep rally of some sort with loud music.

The complainant said he didn't mean for them to be 'ticketed', only that the noise be lessened. He certainly didn't LOOK like an old grouch on TV. He was well-spoken and logically explained his concerns. He did complain that although the fence helped, the parents picking up their kids were the main source of noise.

The police dept said they had no choice but to 'ticket' the principal. As explained above, they were just carrying out their job.

Now, the little kid inside me, and behalf of little kids everywhere: HAHAHAHAHA.....finally stuck it to the principal! 'bout time!

[sldi]

What I disliked in the story, was about keeping kids out at night and weekends. I know the world has changed a lot since I was a youngster, but playing on the playground at our neighborhood school in the evenings and weekends was an acceptable idea. My old grade school back in IN, still has no fence around it. The backyards of many homes still have no fences to segregate the students and except for being on the property late at night, its where the police would much rather have the children. I just saw Gran Torino the other day and I guess I am falling into that same frame of mind the Clint Eastwood had. Times are changing, and I will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into this more violent era.

[BigC]

Good. Children should be seen and not heard.

[Cope]

Originally Posted by OTRphoto

If you buy a house next to a playground, park, train-tracks, airport etc - I don't think you can then later ask them to correct something that you KNEW was there... just because now 10 years later it starts to bug you!

Sadly, if enough people complain, almost any operation can be closed down.

[richardsfault]

As a rule, complainers aren't taken that seriously unless they're complaining about photographers.

[Jeff_Green]

Originally Posted by Cope

Sadly, if enough people complain, almost any operation can be closed down.

So we should not have noise ordinances in our cities?

[jenmazy]

I live 1.4 miles from a middle school and I can hear everything that goes on during football games. It is annoying, but not as annoying as the carpool moms picking up kids on my street at 7am honking 20 times till the kid comes out. There is always going to be something to complain about. I personally would never buy a house near a school, but if I did I would expect some noise. It sounds like the school is at least trying to help. He should just move because it will never be quiet next to a school.

[danchez]

when I moved out here, before settling on a house to rent, I drove thru the area checking for "noisy" things. I found some RR tracks that were pretty close to the house I wanted to rent. I figured, ehh, there are lots of houses that are a lot closer to me to the tracks, maybe the train doesn't go by that often. Boy was I wrong, about 30-35 trains per day use these tracks. Am I calling the police to complain about it, nope. Did I know about it before I moved into the house, yup. Do I bitch about it sometimes, yup!! LOL