At yesterday evening‘s local school council meeting at Disney Elementary, a representative from the Alderman‘s office of the 46th Ward, the neighborhood where Disney’s campus is located, attended to listen to the council‘s concerns of a dog park.
We on the council made it clear once again: for legal reasons that protect students and their learning environments, dogs cannot be walked on the Disney campus.
I agree with my neighbors. A dog park in the neighborhood will promote safety and a sense of community that will benefit the elementary school.
I agree with fellow council members. Dog activity is inappropriate and illegal on the elementary school campus.
A dog park is needed, but it can not be on Disney property.
It makes sense for the community.
It makes sense for our students.
I look forward to continuing this dialogue, not just with the Alderman, but with you.
Dog walkers promote visible community and it has been shown that their presence at local dog parks can help decrease area crime— a good thing for a school’s campus.
By law, written in ordinance and in straight logic, an elementary school campus can not be that dog park.
Our students come first.
As we establish new leadership at our school, we can be reminded of something stronger than any one administrative office:
We are a community. These are our children.
The fact that students share so many stories of dog waste stuck to their shoes after outdoor education, or of being frightened, even if a friendly pet is gentle but perhaps also just a little too big, out weigh the convenience of access to unfenced and not properly maintained areas.
But we need each other.
So let’s work together.
I want all of us to have community access to dog parks and I want our Disney students to be clean and safe.
I want space where we can spend time with our four legged friends, time with neighbors, and time providing a positive presence where it is always needed.
As your Community Representative on the Disney Elementary Local School Council, I have already helped start conversations with our Alderman on this very subject.
I am very confident for a win for Disney as a school and as a community.
Dog walkers are cordial eyes on the street, at all times throughout the day. They promote interaction as their dogs usually love to greet everyone else, and therefore promote a quality of life that is indirectly yet greatly improves safety on the streets, too.
The safer the streets, the even more positive environment for our school, and with a dedicated place for pet lovers in the neighborhood that is nearby and accessible to our friendly neighborhood dog walkers as they traverse on the sidewalks near our campus, our students can learn and play safer while everyone enjoys the neighborhood they love.
Please join me in this conversation. I can be reached at dan.kleinman1@gmail.com.
I feel this way in solidarity with every local school council. What can make our schools great is not just the amazing things that happen within its walls, but the community that is built outside, too.
A quorum call was made and passed: our next Disney ElementaryLocal School Council meeting now after the strike is this Monday, November 4, at 5:30PM. Please join me, as public comment can be made, in Disney’s first floor multi purpose room.
