News

Actions

Parents call for more crossing guards, lower speeds near school

Posted

ST. GEORGE, Utah – It’s a concern that comes up every school year, safely getting kids to school.

Parents of one St. George neighborhood are petitioning the school to consider additional crossing guards and lower speeds on roads.

Moms in the Hidden Valley Heights subdivision said their kids’ walk to school is too dangerous, and they won’t let them do it alone.

“Those semis get going really fast and flipping gravel, and they’re not paying attention to the kids at all,” mother Shanna Coder said.

The subdivision was recently annexed into the boundaries of Bloomington Hills Elementary, but it appears the school district didn’t take into consideration extra traffic safety.

St. George city traffic engineer Cameron Cutler said there’s a state-set formula for figuring out if a school zone is warranted, but it starts with the school, through what’s called a Student Neighborhood Access Program, or SNAP plan.

“A plan to show where the kids are walking,” Cutler said. “Notify parents of what the routes are, so they can show their kids what those routes are. They can teach kids to walk at a stop sign, at a signal, whatever it may be.”

The current SNAP plan has kids going to one light and one crossing guard. Cutler said the SNAP plan should be reviewed regularly, especially with new developments to make sure the plans are the best, and safest, possible.

The principal at Bloomington Elementary school was not available Friday, but Cutler said he’s talked to her, and she’s planning to address the SNAP plan at the next community council meeting.