Elyria crossing guards ask for more police in school zones

Elyria Schools and the Elyria Police Department said they will continue to work with parents and other residents to try and ensure student safety and alleviate traffic during school arrival and dismissal periods. The safety of Elyria students and crossing guards was at issue on Tuesday night during the Elyria City Council meeting, as the head of the district's crossing guards asked the city to do more to ensure safety and punish those speeding or refusing to stop in school zones. Elyria Police Chief James Welsh said he increased school zone patrols on Wednesday following the meeting, but that officers had already been regularly patrolling them since school started. Dominic Carrion, of Lorain, is the head crossing guard for Elyria Schools and he told Council that there were several schools where speeders were an issue, but he focused mainly on Hamilton Elementary School on Middle Avenue. Middle Avenue is four lanes where it meets 13th Street, and Carrion said many drivers exceed the school zone speed limit of 20 mph, and some even refuse to stop when guards and children are using crosswalks. "We have got crossing guards who do not want to work that corner," Carrion said. "When they are crossing a child across the street, and they push the caution lights on, traffic doesn't want to stop. They (the cars) go flying through there." Carrion said that both crossing guards and children had nearly been struck on multiple occasions since school started two weeks ago. "One of these days, one of the kids is gonna get hit," he said. Councilman Brad Armstrong, I-5th Ward, said he had been out to the school with Carrion and had seen the speeding and refusal to stop himself. "Two-thirds of the (Elyria police) Traffic Unit has been out there recently, but we do need more enforcement out there because it is highly disrespectful to the parents and children in that area," Armstrong said. "I had a parent tell me that she 'Don't care about that law.' I care about that law, so I am definitely requesting more presence at Hamilton. Something has to give before — like he (Carrion) said — somebody gets hurt." Welsh said on Wednesday that he appreciated Carrion's work and concerns and he had ordered more officers to patrol near Hamilton on Wednesday, but he added that members of his department's traffic unit had been present at Hamilton at busy times on each of the past three days of school: Thursday, Friday and Tuesday. "I want to make it clear that we have been patrolling Hamilton School, just like we have been patrolling all the other school zones," Welsh said. "Since school started, we have been there at some point every day. We will address speeding at Hamilton the way we do at all the other zones, and I can guarantee you that Hamilton is not being pushed out of the rotation." Elyria police have had a dedicated Traffic Unit since 2023, which was recently expanded to include three officers and cruisers rather than two. Welsh said that members of the traffic unit rotate between different schools in the city during arrival and dismissal times, and additional cruisers from other units are sometimes sent to schools to assist at these times. "We have a regular rotation where we try to address all of the school zones regularly through the week, whether in the morning or at dismissal," Welsh said. "I think we are doing an admirable job of that, trying to move our resources where they are needed. We have stepped it up because school has started up. Every crossing guard wants us to be in their area, but it's just impossible for us to be at every school in the city at the same time." The flashing yellow pedestrian signs that cross Middle Avenue heading away from the school do not require drivers by law to stop, but drivers are legally required to stop when met by a crossing guard. If there is no crossing guard with a stop sign, flashing yellow lights direct drivers to slow down, use caution and proceed if there are no pedestrians crossing. Carrion said that an increased police presence had been effective in improving the traffic compliance and safety around Ely Elementary School off Gulf Road. Ely Elementary is facing another issue in the form of heavy traffic during pickup and drop-off, both on Gulf Road and on Ohio Street. On Wednesday, Elyria Schools and police issued a new traffic plan they had formulated together in an attempt to alleviate those traffic issues and safety concerns. Elyria police will be enforcing the following rules only during school arrival and dismissal times: No stopping or parking on Gulf Road, no left turns into the school parking lot off of Ohio Street and no left turns out of the parking lot onto Ohio Street. The American Legion Post 12 on Gulf Road, directly across Ohio Street from the school, has agreed to allow parents to use its eastern parking lot off of Gulf Road for dropping off and picking up students. Welsh said that police would initially be focused on educating parents and other drivers, but that citations would be issued for violations. "We are responding to complaints from the community to make the roads and, in this case, school zones safer, that's what our mission and objective is and we are going to do that," Welsh said. "We hope to not do it through issuing citations, but if there is not a partnership between the motorists, parents, schools and police department, it is going to result in more citations being issued." Elyria police and the school district worked together to formulate the new traffic plan for Ely, which Elyria Schools Superintendent Ann Schloss said should make the process smoother. Schloss said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, far more parents drive their children to school than in the past, with fewer kids walking or taking the bus. She said that a partnership between the schools, police and parents was crucial to get kids to and from school safely. "We have crossing guards at the spots that are needed, but understand that not every child follows every sign and not every adult follows or knows the signs," Schloss said. "Any time you see flashing lights, or if you know it is around arrival or dismissal, to slow down is never a bad thing. We appreciate when people take the time around the school zones and help us keep our kiddos safe." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.