CHANDLER, AZ — A line of cars keeps going and wraps onto Alma School and into the neighborhood in the opposite direction. This happens every morning and every afternoon outside of Chandler Traditional Academy - Independence Campus, off Alma School and Lake Drive.
This is part of going to this school, but parents tell me they are increasingly concerned about the safety in this school zone.
"It seems like a lot of dangerous behavior is happening and a lot more so lately than I've seen in the past,” Hailey Slayton said.
Slayton has a kindergartner and a third grader at this school. Every morning and every afternoon, she navigates what she describes as something close to chaos.
“Basically, what I see is chaos, sometimes a little bit of organized chaos, but a lot of times it is not organized,” Slayton said.
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Unlike most schools, there are no buses here. Every student is dropped off and picked up by car. The school has a system in place, but the sheer volume of vehicles creates confusion. Making it worse is cut-through traffic from drivers with no connection to the school at all.
"My biggest concern is why are we going to wait until something really bad happens, because that is where we are headed at this point,” Slayton said.
Another parent emailed me, telling me about the speeding and dangerous driving she has seen dating back years.
"The people violating these laws, driving while distracted and totally ignoring the safety of children, is abhorrent,” Jennifer Stein said in an email.
Both parents say they have asked Chandler Police for help, requesting things like a mobile speed indicator or a photo radar truck. Slayton says officers have responded to some requests for patrols, but she wants to see something more consistent.
"People driving through here, whether they are parents or just through traffic, may behave a little differently if they think there is a cop around the corner,” Slayton said.
I asked Chandler Police how many requests they have received specifically for this location and what options exist to address the problem. The department says they are looking into the request and shared this statement:
"Traffic safety around schools is something we take seriously. We use a combination of crash data, traffic patterns, officer observations, and community input to determine where and when to deploy resources. While we can’t be everywhere at once, we regularly conduct targeted enforcement in school zones, especially during peak arrival and dismissal times, to address the most significant safety risks."
In the first quarter of 2026, Chandler police issued 199 citations in school zones with a 15-mile-per-hour speed limit.
That enforcement comes in different forms — marked cars, motorcycles, and unmarked vehicles. Officers are out there even when drivers don't see them.
But they can't always stay.
"Sometimes unfortunately we might get called away because there could be a collision or an impaired driver that we have to go investigate and unfortunately we have to leave the school area because of that higher priority collision," Officer Eddie Cuthbertson, a motor officer with the Chandler Police Department, said.
Cuthbertson's advice to drivers is to be patient in school zones. If possible, find an alternate route during morning drop-off and afternoon pickup.
Drivers who want to request additional patrols in their neighborhood can use Chandler Police's online tip form.
