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Crossing guard added at Veterans Highway, Percy Julian Drive
When some parents were concerned about their children’s safety walking to school, they expressed their concerns.
And on Monday, local leaders made something happen for them.
With a number of students crossing Veterans Highway at Percy L. Julian Drive, right next to Greencastle Middle School, a crossing guard is now in place to ensure the safety of the young people.
When the issue was brought to Greencastle Police Chief Tom Sutherlin, he took it to Mayor Bill Dory, and a plan began to take shape.
After the two city leaders conferred with Supt. Jeff Gibboney, GMS Principal Scott Weltz and school board member Ed Wilson, who also happens to be a GPD sergeant, the decision was made to move the crossing guard at Ridpath Primary School to the busy crossing beside GMS.
“Our crossing guard who was at Ridpath all last year and the beginning of this year had not had any students cross in the crossing zone,” Sutherlin said. “So it made sense to pull that one and put that individual here.”
The guard, David Thomas, agreed to give it a try.
He spent Monday morning and afternoon waiting, with students, for the crossing signals to change before walking out with his stop sign for an added layer of protection for the student pedestrians.
One area of concern is that even when the north-south traffic has a stop sign, it is possible to make a legal right turn form the north, across the crosswalk.
“We’ve educated the students this afternoon and I’ve talked to our crossing guard that you have to make sure that nobody is making a right turn as you step out there,” Sutherlin said.
Motorists in the area are urged to use extra caution when they are in the area of any school during the day, but particularly at the beginning and end of the school day.