Parents line up hours before school gets out

More complaints over the new bell schedule for the Pulaski County Special District. Some parents say the new schedule forces them to leave their homes hours before the final bell rings to avoid traffic picking up their children.

Anyone who drives through Maumelle knows there's one way in and one way out. Add to the rush hour mix, Crystal Hill Elementary students getting out of school an hour later, and you've got a bunch of angry parents.

You either get there early to avoid traffic, or get there late, and get stuck in the middle of the street.

"This makes me angry, but I move my day just so that I can sit in this spot every afternoon," says parent Sharon Tackett.

Tackett stakes out the first spot at Crystal Hill every day.

"This is my spot. Every afternoon, this is where I sit, and he knows that I am going to be sitting here," she says.

The problem? PCSSD elementary students get in and out of class one hour later this year.

"Here in a minute, you're going to hit 4:30, 5:00 work traffic and everybody's going to sit together," says Tackett.

So what's the district doing about it?

Friday, FOX16 found out it's sending teams of security and transportation staff to high traffic areas to collect data to untangle the bell schedule mess.

After 90 minutes of waiting, Tackett just wants her waiting time cut so she can spend more time with her tired kindergartener.

"I want them to change the hours back. My kids cries at 3:00 every day. Because it's a long day. I'm ready for it to be over," she says.

The district is working on a new schedule right now. The superintendent is looking over plans this weekend to fix the confusion.

The final solution, coming by September 13, may include staggering start times by school rather than having a blanket start time for elementary and secondary schools. That could also help with the bus problems.