Resident voices concerns about Ferryway School

  Mr. Mayor Gary Christenson I am reaching out to you!

  My name is Mark Gillis and I’ve been living in Malden for the last 20 years, my wife grew up here not far from Trafton Park.

  A lot has changed in Malden over the years and for the most part on the positive side.

  Until now.

  For over one year, I have made attempts to address certain problematic issues surrounding the Ferryway School.

  For example, the playground which is falling apart and is a danger to our children. (A broken fence that contains the playground and the entrance gate which keeps the children from wandering when closed is missing.

  In addition, one of the slides has an enormous hole at the bottom with jagged hard plastic edges just waiting to rip open a nasty wound on an unsuspecting child.) Next and definitely the most dangerous of the existing issues is the speed and recklessness of the vehicles (especially MBTA buses) going through the school zone at alarming speeds as well as cars illegally parked around the crosswalks.

  The “flashing” school zone lights (when they decide to work) are outdated, not present at all (cross street) and not strategically placed to warn motorists in time to reduce their speed.

  This lack of attention to safety puts our children, as well as the crossing guards in a dangerous place!

  I met with Councilors Steve Winslow and Peg Crowe on December 6 to address all of these issues.

  Today is March 21 and nothing has been done except for me calling Mr. Winslow on a weekly basis for a progress report and getting the same answer every week, “We are working on it, thanks for being diligent with your follow up phone calls.”

  And most recently from Councilor Winslow, “I will pass this information on to Councilor Crowe” dated 3-8-22, I have yet to be contacted.

  I really had high hopes after speaking with Councilor Winslow but as time went on I realized that rhetoric has no boundaries, even when it comes to our children’s safety.

  Let me end on a positive note.

  Many thanks to Bobby Knox for repairing and replacing the dilapidated concrete steps leading into the playground at the Ferryway in a timely manner and to Lt. Evan Tuxbury for setting up radar on Ferry Street several months ago! Bottom line: More has to be done immediately to protect our children and I’m looking for help from you Mr. Mayor.