School Crossing Guards

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Some of our's cross jurisdictions too. They share the load. Honestly only takes one or two at each school. but I can certainly understand why every school district can't.

Where my grandkids go to school, they use their campus police force and add city police or county deputies as needed.

Ah yeah I'm not saying the police force doesn't share the loads because they absolutely do or they come to each other's aid when needed. When I mentioned that I meant in terms of budgetary and needs of each area in regards to a consistent police presence at all schools for school zones.

But on the list of priorities in terms of police presence placing ones at all school crossings and all the time for the sole purpose of speed enforcement is not a good usage here for our resources for as large of a County we are in terms of area and citizens; it's more effective when it's a once in a while thing.

But for all the amount of schools we have there really hasn't been a lot of accidents regarding that. Yes people do speed but they are 'mowing' down children, causing accidents in school zones (at least not in enough numbers to make the news), and creating a dangerous environment and that's without constant police presence in active school zones so I suppose I'll count that as a good sign

 

[luvsJack]

Ah yeah I'm not saying the police force doesn't share the loads because they absolutely do or they come to each other's aid when needed. When I mentioned that I meant in terms of budgetary and needs of each area in regards to a consistent police presence at all schools for school zones.

But on the list of priorities in terms of police presence placing ones at all school crossings and all the time for the sole purpose of speed enforcement is not a good usage here for our resources for as large of a County we are in terms of area and citizens; it's more effective when it's a once in a while thing.

But for all the amount of schools we have there really hasn't been a lot of accidents regarding that. Yes people do speed but they are 'mowing' down children, causing accidents in school zones (at least not in enough numbers to make the news), and creating a dangerous environment and that's without constant police presence in active school zones so I suppose I'll count that as a good sign

We haven't had anyone trying to "mow" anyone down either. The school my kids went to is on a county road and the officer there also serves directing traffic into the school. . Where my grandkids are, they have their own police force. The sheriff's office does a lot for all the schools and its just a part of the budget. No one questions it. Many of the deputies have kids in the school districts they serve so they want to do it, too.

Not sure I would agree with you on "effective use of budget money. Children are the most important thing we have and should be kept safe at all costs.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We haven't had anyone trying to "mow" anyone down either. The school my kids went to is on a county road and the officer there also serves directing traffic into the school. . Where my grandkids are, they have their own police force. The sheriff's office does a lot for all the schools and its just a part of the budget. No one questions it. Many of the deputies have kids in the school districts they serve so they want to do it, too.

Not sure I would agree with you on "effective use of budget money. Children are the most important thing we have and should be kept safe at all costs.

lol now I think you just want to disagree with me. Pretty sure you understood what I meant.

The words "children aren't important" never was said nor implied.

With 88 elementary schools alone in the 3 big districts that would be 88 police officers for every single day schools are in session at all schools for just elementary students. That isn't feasible here. If there was a large safety concern due to risky behaviors exhibited it would be a school by school basis as every school is in different areas with different ultimate risks.

But hey your area does what works there and my area does what works here

If you'd like to converse more about this and go back and forth by all means PM me (not really expecting you to do that but thought I'd leave that as an option).

 

[luvsJack]

lol now I think you just want to disagree with me. Pretty sure you understood what I meant.

The words "children aren't important" never was said nor implied.

With 88 elementary schools alone in the 3 big districts that would be 88 police officers for every single day schools are in session at all schools for just elementary students. That isn't feasible here. If there was a large safety concern due to risky behaviors exhibited it would be a school by school basis as every school is in different areas with different ultimate risks.

But hey your area does what works there and my area does what works here

If you'd like to converse more about this and go back and forth by all means PM me (not really expecting you to do that but thought I'd leave that as an option).

I wasn't disagreeing with you in the first place. I made a statement about how its handled here. You said why it wouldn't work where you are. I agreed that it wouldn't' work everywhere. And just said some more about how its part of what they do as officers here. Its only about 2 hours out of the day but hey, whatever works best for your area. You said it wasn't the best use of their budget THAT I disagreed with. I assumed we were having a conversation, not a debate.

I mean I really wouldn't see the point of disagreeing about how our local police handle school zones. But, hey, whatever.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I wasn't disagreeing with you in the first place. I made a statement about how its handled here. You said why it wouldn't work where you are. I agreed that it wouldn't' work everywhere. And just said some more about how its part of what they do as officers here. Its only about 2 hours out of the day but hey, whatever works best for your area. You said it wasn't the best use of their budget THAT I disagreed with. I assumed we were having a conversation, not a debate.

I mean I really wouldn't see the point of disagreeing about how our local police handle school zones. But, hey, whatever.

It was your "effective use of budget money. Children are the most important thing we have and should be kept safe at all costs." comment that got the response you got from me.

I actually said "But for all the amount of schools we have there really hasn't been a lot of accidents regarding that. Yes people do speed but they are 'mowing' down children, causing accidents in school zones (at least not in enough numbers to make the news), and creating a dangerous environment and that's without constant police presence in active school zones so I suppose I'll count that as a good sign"

But I guess you interpret that to me the importance of children and their safety is no biggie.

And by budget I was saying when pooling different cities together as I mentioned the schools cross city lines. Different cities have different budgets and budgetary responsibilities as well as voted upon by citizens of the respective cities. It's not as simple as saying "hey let's take this officer from this city and this officer from that city and have them tag team the school zone". That's not the same as saying our area doesn't care about children's safety nor deems them important. That is how you chose to interpret the comment.

In any case we're talking over each other Let's just leave it as that and get back to the thread topic.

 

[MillauFr]

No crossing guards here. The school would probably try and get parents arrested if they let their kids walk to school.

You don't get lectured for wasting fuel by driving your kids to school? I suppose you can get around that a bit by buying an electric car but if you really want to keep up appearances you need to have your kids ride bicycles or walk to school.

 

[barkley]

But on the list of priorities in terms of police presence placing ones at all school crossings and all the time for the sole purpose of speed enforcement is not a good usage here for our resources for as large of a County we are in terms of area and citizens; it's more effective when it's a once in a while thing.

Not sure I would agree with you on "effective use of budget money. Children are the most important thing we have and should be kept safe at all costs.

the police department for the city we previously lived in decided that placing officers in patrol cars directly adjacent to the crosswalks of schools during arrival and departure times was an EXCELLENT use of budget money when their inaction on repeated concerns expressed by parents, neighboring homes and school officials of the safety issues with speeding drivers resulted in one single accident that killed 2 children and seriously injured another 10. yes-the driver had responsibility for his actions but b/c there had been repeated concerns expressed to law enforcement, and their powers that be had failed to take action to enforce the existing laws they were held responsible in multiple civil actions. despite their funds being DRASTICALLY reduced due to all those civil judgments they somehow found a way to make it work w/o impacting other law enforcement demands.

isn't their credo 'to protect and serve'? that infers that our youngest citizens should be provided with protection.

You don't get lectured for wasting fuel by driving your kids to school? I suppose you can get around that a bit by buying an electric car but if you really want to keep up appearances you need to have your kids ride bicycles or walk to school.

no flack around here. the district we live in PROHIBITS walker/bicyclist to/from school property students so the ONLY ways to get to school are by school bus or private car. it's entirely due to safety b/c of the location of the schools. the school provides bus service to ALL students (no minimum distance to the school from home to qualify). we're not a 'rich district' by any means it's just a decision that was made a long time ago for the safety of the students-and the community supports it wholeheartedly.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

the police department for the city we previously lived in decided that placing officers in patrol cars directly adjacent to the crosswalks of schools during arrival and departure times was an EXCELLENT use of budget money when their inaction on repeated concerns expressed by parents, neighboring homes and school officials of the safety issues with speeding drivers resulted in one single accident that killed 2 children and seriously injured another 10. yes-the driver had responsibility for his actions but b/c there had been repeated concerns expressed to law enforcement, and their powers that be had failed to take action to enforce the existing laws they were held responsible in multiple civil actions. despite their funds being DRASTICALLY reduced due to all those civil judgments they somehow found a way to make it work w/o impacting other law enforcement demands.

isn't their credo 'to protect and serve'? that infers that our youngest citizens should be provided with protection.

Different cities different things. Again why would you assume that because a police officer is not stationed every day at every school that it means they aren't protecting children? Our area is consistently one of the safest in the entire nation and also is on the list consistently to raise families. They must be doing something right. Placing a police officer at every school every day is not the single only thing to do FWIW.

And if you can review my past quotes you'll clearly plain as day see that if they deemed it was becoming a safety risk measures would be done you'll also note that I said it's done every now and then several days in a row in terms of speed traps in school zone. Looks like your was repeated concerns and an accident that killed 2 children. You mention too that it was a city you previously lived in. Does the city you live in now place officers in patrol cars directly adjacent to the crosswalks of schools during arrival and departure times for every single school in the area every single day?

 

[MillauFr]

the district we live in PROHIBITS walker/bicyclist to/from school property students so the ONLY ways to get to school are by school bus or private car. it's entirely due to safety b/c of the location of the schools. the school provides bus service to ALL students (no minimum distance to the school from home to qualify). we're not a 'rich district' by any means it's just a decision that was made a long time ago for the safety of the students-and the community supports it wholeheartedly.

How do students who have before/after school activities get to/from school? Take the city bus or uber/lyft?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

How do students who have before/after school activities get to/from school? Take the city bus or uber/lyft?

I'm not the poster but I know the school district I grew up in had an after school bus but it left at a specific time so if you missed it or had activities that ran past it you'd have to find another way home. In the mornings there was no early bus available.

 

[kdonnel]

You don't get lectured for wasting fuel by driving your kids to school? I suppose you can get around that a bit by buying an electric car but if you really want to keep up appearances you need to have your kids ride bicycles or walk to school.

No but Georgia did get to take a few mandatory diesel days off several years ago when a hurricane went through the gulf and shutdown the refineries. The worry was that there would not be enough diesel for the farmers to harvest their crop.

 

[barkley]

And if you can review my past quotes you'll clearly plain as day see that if they deemed it was becoming a safety risk measures would be done you'll also note that I said it's done every now and then several days in a row in terms of speed traps in school zone. Looks like your was repeated concerns and an accident that killed 2 children. You mention too that it was a city you previously lived in. Does the city you live in now place officers in patrol cars directly adjacent to the crosswalks of schools during arrival and departure times for every single school in the area every single day?

if you reread my post you will see that no one is permitted to arrive to/leave our campuses on foot or by bike-only by car or bus. there are no crosswalks for police to monitor. permitted cars (staff and those high school drivers who meet the criteria the school puts in place) drive to a designated area where they park to access a walkway absent traffic, buses drive to designated areas where the students exit directly onto the sidewalk adjacent to buildings, drop off/pick up drivers drive to a separate designated area that changes locations am to pm so that exiting/entering kids from cars, like the bus riders never step foot in the parking lot/on a street.

How do students who have before/after school activities get to/from school? Take the city bus or uber/lyft?

if you opt to do a before school thing you provide your own car transportation. if it's after then all activities and sports are scheduled to coordinate with the district's activity buses. if it's a sport or something like drama/choir with a later evening or weekend thing on campus-again you provide your own car transportation (if it's offsite like a sport or a traveling choir show-the school provided transportation to/from the site and depending on the number of participants HAS done a late night activity bus specialty run).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

if you reread my post you will see that no one is permitted to arrive to/leave our campuses on foot or by bike-only by car or bus. there are no crosswalks for police to monitor. permitted cars (staff and those high school drivers who meet the criteria the school puts in place) drive to a designated area where they park to access a walkway absent traffic, buses drive to designated areas where the students exit directly onto the sidewalk adjacent to buildings, drop off/pick up drivers drive to a separate designated area that changes locations am to pm so that exiting/entering kids from cars, like the bus riders never step foot in the parking lot/on a street.

Right but do the police park and radar for speeding enforcement in school zones every day, which was the original point,? Or do you not have school zones at all? Are police stationed at every school area every day to enforce the rule regarding not being permitted to walk? Is it radar enforced regarding speed limits and no one walking?

 

[gotomu212]

I think they should too but the reality of the situation is there is never going to be enough police force for the sheer amount of citizens and schools in my area. It's not practical nor feasible in my area.

Heck in my school district alone there are 34 elementary schools, 9 middle schools and 5 high schools plus multiple other educational facilities. Even with different start times for each type of school there's overlap and isn't feasible to send a police officer for speed enforcement to every school everyday.

There are 2 other large school districts in the area too. The 3 main school districts cross city lines too so you're also talking cross jurisdiction with police force.

Your district sounds almost identical to mine, although the police here heavily patrol school zones. They aren’t her every single morning/afternoon but are there around 80% of the time and that keeps all us locals guessing enough to always follow the limit.
For our city the police presence pays for itself since the speeding fine in a school zone comes with extra penalties. Just 1 speeder every 2 days would more than cover the 3 hour school zone costs....and some days they get several offenders. I think the school zone protection actually makes up the shortfall in other budget areas (here speeding fines go back to enforcement budgets).

 

[MillauFr]

Right but do the police park and radar for speeding enforcement in school zones every day, which was the original point,? Or do you not have school zones at all? Are police stationed at every school area every day to enforce the rule regarding not being permitted to walk? Is it radar enforced regarding speed limits and no one walking?

They have gone to video enforcement of the traffic rules in school zones here. There are quite a few tickets issued for exceeding the 20 mph speed limit. Actual police officers enforce the law that says vehicles have to stop for pedestrians at marked and unmarked crosswalks. The funds generated from the fines are used to improve sidewalks on routes to/from school, pedestrian safety education, and to brainwash people into driving less.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Your district sounds almost identical to mine, although the police here heavily patrol school zones. They aren’t her every single morning/afternoon but are there around 80% of the time and that keeps all us locals guessing enough to always follow the limit.
For our city the police presence pays for itself since the speeding fine in a school zone comes with extra penalties. Just 1 speeder every 2 days would more than cover the 3 hour school zone costs....and some days they get several offenders. I think the school zone protection actually makes up the shortfall in other budget areas (here speeding fines go back to enforcement budgets).

I think ours depends on what city you are in. My original comment said most times people speed 30 in a 25MPH school zone which most seem to be that amount here, well looking at my City's fine schedule the speed infractions don't start until 6MPH over so you're not going to get a ticket if you're doing exactly 30 in a 25. Looks like the fine is double the normal amount in my city. The 3 big districts span multiple cities though and I haven't looked up what the multiple other cities charge and if they also start at 6MPH and over.

When they do do it they normally do it several days in a row at a time and mostly for schools in busier areas especially ones where the school is closer to busy intersections. Like I said for my neighborhood in particular they'd be more likely to install for a while the radar speed signs (which they've done a handful of times in the 4 years that I've lived in this particular neighborhood) which give the driver awareness and acts like a deterrant. There's not a stop light in my neighborhood near the school but there is a crossing guard. Actually we've been trying to get an additional crossing guard added to a different pedestrian crossing as they opened a street and a half in the neighborhood right next to ours which is also across the street from the elementary school. The city is reviewing that based on population and need-based if the additional crossing guard will be added.

There's a new middle school that opened up near me (not assigned to our house though) that is next to an elementary school. The surrounding area has multiple neighborhoods. They do have a crossing guard there (and they only need 1 because there's only 1 road in and out of the street that feeds into the elementary and now middle school) but they installed a stop light where the crossing guard is in front of the school prior to the middle school opening up. They time that stop light differently during school times than during the rest of the day.

 

[barkley]

Your district sounds almost identical to mine, although the police here heavily patrol school zones. They aren’t her every single morning/afternoon but are there around 80% of the time and that keeps all us locals guessing enough to always follow the limit.
For our city the police presence pays for itself since the speeding fine in a school zone comes with extra penalties. Just 1 speeder every 2 days would more than cover the 3 hour school zone costs....and some days they get several offenders. I think the school zone protection actually makes up the shortfall in other budget areas (here speeding fines go back to enforcement budgets).

it can be very lucrative. the much larger district near us generated fines of $4 million for JUST 2 of their schools over the period of 2 consecutive school years. a portion of the funds have been earmarked to pay for more traffic officers to patrol near schools in addition to more than $1.2 million in anticipated construction work requested by neighborhood representatives over the next several years intended to slow speeders, including more prominent crosswalks, larger street signs and bigger medians.

since the laws have been enforced there's been a steady decline in speeding-upwards of 20%. guess those $234 fines are sending a message.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They have gone to video enforcement of the traffic rules in school zones here. There are quite a few tickets issued for exceeding the 20 mph speed limit. Actual police officers enforce the law that says vehicles have to stop for pedestrians at marked and unmarked crosswalks. The funds generated from the fines are used to improve sidewalks on routes to/from school, pedestrian safety education, and to brainwash people into driving less.

I think if a specific school area was a problem child like that with exceeding 20mph they would step up the speed traps. Love the brainwash comment lol.

I looked up and it says in 2017 our city's police department alone responded to over 50,000 calls for service. They have added into the budget five additional school resource officers and an SRO sergeant position (ETA: though they aren't police officers for speed enforcement though). The funding for those positions is from the school district. Over half of my property tax goes straight to the school district. But again that's just my city alone.

 

[bigbabyblues]

How do students who have before/after school activities get to/from school? Take the city bus or uber/lyft?

Kids can't walk to school here, either. There is no law/rule, but it would be nearly impossible due to the location of the schools. All of the public schools are along state routes where there are no sidewalks. I suppose there may be a few who live close enough to cut through people's yards, but definitely not the majority. The public schools provide buses or parents can drive their children to school.

Students with before/after school activities drive themselves if they are old enough or their parents drive them. There is no public transportation here, no Uber, Lyft, taxi, nothing, and the school buses only run once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

 

[shoney]

At our high school there aren’t an traffic lights where the crossing guards are so they just stop traffic when the kids need to cross.

By my job, they are at a light and only allow kids to cross when walk signal is on.