HAVERHILL — The staff as well as parents of children who attend the Head Start program were happy when it moved to the former Fox School on Elm Street two years ago.

The Fox Education Center replaced Head Start's former home, the Don Orione Center in Bradford, which was plagued by deteriorating buildings and the close proximity of coyotes in its rural setting.

Now the center faces a new challenge. More than 100 children attend Head Start at the center, and Elm Street is very narrow. As a result, when the buses are dropping off children or picking them up, there's traffic chaos in this residential neighborhood — and the potential for a youngster being hit by a car, parents and school officials said.

The situation gets hectic around 11:30 a.m., said Deborah Linnet, director of Head Start. That's when one group of children is being picked up for the ride home and another is arriving for the afternoon session, she said.

The school has proposed designating the area in front of the school as a bus zone, which would include a yellow curb and no parking signs. When cars are parked in front of the Fox Education Center while Head Start is in session, the street becomes even more congested, Linnet said.

"We don't like having buses parked way out in the street," she said.

The signs at the center don't merely ban parking on the school grounds. They display messages such as "Don't even think of parking."

John Cuneo, director of Community Action which runs the Head Start program, sent a letter to the City Council asking for a bus zone at the center. It read in part:

"Buses dropping off children must battle with parked cars and traffic to pick up and drop off children safely. Whether the bus driver must double park or circle the block to deal with parked cars, it is not the best situation. The current situation also can increase hazards for traffic trying to get around the bus when the driver must double park."

Cuneo asked that the curb in front of the center be painted yellow and that a sign reading "Bus Zone No Parking" be erected. He also requested that a flashing yellow light and school zone 20 mph sign be installed.

"It's about safety and respect," Linnet said. "Not only safety for the children, but safety for other cars and respect for the neighbors."

Councilor William Macek brought the request to his colleagues this week. They voted unanimously to send the matter to the city's Traffic and Safety Committee for its review.

Head Start serves children ages 3 and 4 from lower-income families by introducing them to reading and other academic skills. In Haverhill, the program serves 114 children at the center and another 32 at the Gerald Goldman Center on Hilldale Avenue.

The Fox Education Center also serves adults by providing English instruction and preparation for the GED test — the equivalent of receiving a high-school diploma.

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