We, the undersigned Amos Lawrence School families submit this petition to the Brookline Department of Public Works:

We are very concerned about our children’s safety at Lawrence School playground when Brookline Department of Public Works (hereinafter, “DPW”) vehicles, trucks, and lawn mower tractors drive onto the paths and field during school hours and the general disregard for our students’ safety by some DPW employees.  Specifically, we have observed/learned of the following incidents:

1.   DPW lawn mower tractor (sighted on Sep. 16, 2025 and other dates) cutting grass at speeds of 10mph while hundreds of students are walking/running adjacent to and on the field during their recess and arrival to school time;

2.   DPW large trucks regularly accessing Lawrence playground path from Newell Road without yielding to parents/guardians/students and driving forward and in reverse on these paths at morning drop off, recess, and afternoon pick up time, when hundreds of students are walking/running on these paths in front/behind these trucks, endangering unsupervised children;

3.   DPW failing to securely seal a large gray manhole on or about June 18, 2026 and failing to erect a physical barrier around it, resulting in a student falling into it and sustaining injury; and then taking more than 3.5 hours to come to the Lawrence School playground to seal it shut, causing multiple Lawrence School staff to stand next to it and guard it for many hours; 

4.   DPW failing to repair the sole water fountain at Lawrence School playground despite multiple parent complaints and only doing so the day before “Field Day” on June 4;

5.   DPW continuously failing to repair the see-saw at Lawrence School playground, placing barriers next to it as if that prevents students from trying to play on a broken see-saw which is dangerous.

We request that DPW ensure that:

1.   DPW lawn mower tractors refrain from accessing the school field at pick up/drop off and recess times;

2.   DPW trucks and vehicles park on Newell Street or surrounding streets when the equipment needed for diagnosis or repair at Lawrence playground is not physically connected to their trucks and can be carried a few hundred feet; and if it is absolutely necessary for a DPW truck to drive on park pathways/field that it be done with the utmost care, with a DPW employee standing outside the truck to ensure the safety of students and pedestrians; 

3.   DPW adopt a new policy to ensure any manholes are completely sealed when DPW leaves; and that if one is found to be open that DPW treat that as an emergency rather than a standard complaint;

4.   DPW actively tests the park’s water fountain and repairs it immediately when needed / when a complaint is received;

5.   DPW repairs any faulty playground equipment as soon as possible, especially if in its broken state it presents a physical danger to students.