On the brink of a busy school year, local principals are expressing concern over their students’ safety.
Sitting just two blocks from one of the borough’s busiest intersections, 2441 Wallace, the home of three local schools, is dangerously close to what an administrator said could be a tragedy in the making.
“We feel that intersection is quite dangerous and we want to make sure our kids can get across,” Aspire Preparatory School assistant principal Helena Davis commented about the vehicular spot where Boston Road, Mace Avenue and Holland Avenue intersect.
Her proposed solution – a crossing guard.
“That definitely is a need and we don’t want to wait until something tragic happens,” she explained. “You have to be proactive in every way when it comes to protecting the students.”
With approximately 1,200 students attending the facility’s three schools, Bronx Green Middle School, Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation and Aspire Preparatory School, parent Pearline Smikle agreed action must be taken, for the sake of the children.
“There are too many places to cross over there and the street is very busy and wide,” she commented. “I’m very concerned about that.”
Since her son, Llyell, recently began the eighth grade at Bronx Green, she said his daily commute walking through the intersection deeply worries her.
“I was thinking why don’t we do something about that crossing because the kids go by themselves,” she explained. “We need it very badly.”
She also touched on the fact that many of the students are small in stature and could be easily missed by distracted drivers making their way to work in the morning.
Caridad Caro, assistant principal at Urban Assembly said she too recognizes the need for a form of control over the chaotic thoroughfare.
“I drive that corner and I cross that corner and it’s pretty bad,” she explained.
Further stating that she continues to be perplexed about the safety of students because of their lack of pedestrian assistance at the site, she commented, “That’s a horrible corner and a crossing guard would be a huge benefit to the students.”
While the idea of placing a crossing guard at the intersection seems a no-brainer for parents and administrators alike, final approval resides with the 49th Precinct.
Though Aspire submitted a request for a guard last year, they’ve yet to hear a response.
Calls placed to the precinct didn’t yield a response as of press time.
