A crossing guard will be placed at Center Street School after almost 20 months of parental requests.
The guard will be placed beginning Nov. 27, according to Superintendent Fino Celano’s office.
It’s a welcome response to a long awaited process for parents, like Kostas Katsavdakis, a father of two Center Street students.
“On behalf of the community, we’re all very pleased and welcome the idea of the crossing guard and thank everyone involved with this effort,” said Katsavdakis.
A recent online petition for a crossing guard received 120 signatures in about six weeks, Katsavdakis said. He also led a letter writing campaign regarding the matter to the police and local elected officials about 20 months ago, when he said he noticed the speeding and “disregard of all traffic rules” getting worse.
Katsavdakis said it got to the point where students would only cross if they were clearly signaled by the drivers.
“I think there’s something fundamentally wrong with that,” Katsavdakis said. “It’s a crossing location at an elementary school.”
The district and Nassau County Police Department were all cooperative throughout the process, Katsavdakis said.
The police completed a survey and concluded a crossing guard was necessary at the location, Katsavdakis said. However, at the time there was not a crossing guard available for to be placed at Center Street, according to Katsavdakis.
A police spokesman said that there are many factors that determine if a location qualifies for a crossing gaurd, including traffic at the location, traffic signals lights, pedestrian cross walks, age of students, number of student and proximity of other crossings.
Katsavdakis said his primary concern was always making sure the kids were able to cross the street safely.
“I think the entire community and the families are pleased with the decision for the safety and welfare of the kids,” Katsavdakis said. “[It was] a multi-pronged effort, and I’m very pleased.”
