School is finally back in session for the Crookston School District, and parents, students, and public servants are making preparations to return to the schools. But, along with a new year, the school district and Crookston Police Department are bringing new safety measures to keep the students safe.
Over the summer, the Police Department partnered with the School District, Polk County, and the city of Crookston to purchase and install new “School Zone” signs for Crookston High School and Highland Elementary School. While there were signs that designated the zones in the past, the schools have added new signs with flashers to help draw attention to them and when drivers should start reducing their speeds as they enter the zones to make it safer for the children coming and leaving school. “They also have flashing lights on them and what’s really neat about those is we can set the timers on those to have them flash at applicable times during the day,” Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler explained. “This year, when you come into the school zones, you’ll notice at the High School, that’s usually a 35-mile-per-hour zone on Fisher Avenue, and in the School Zone, we’ve slowed it down to 25 miles per hour. Then over at Highland, that’s normally a 30-mile-per-hour zone, and that one is slowed down to 20-miles-per-hour. You’ll see the restricted speed signs, and they’re applicable when the lights are flashing.” Chief Selzler says that there are about nine LED lights on each sign that will help make the signs visible, even during a very bright day during the early fall or late spring, so there’s no mistake about where they are. Selzler says that the signs will usually flash when schools open and close, with them being at slightly different times for each school. Highland’s will be flashing from 7:15 to 8:15 a.m. when the school is opening, and busses are dropping kids off, and at 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 when students are leaving for home. The High School is close to those times, with the signs flashing from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. when schools open and from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. when schools close. Selzler noted that Washington will not be receiving any of these signs, not because it is of less importance, but because it is on a less busy road that puts the kids at the same risk as being on roads like Fisher Ave.
Along with the flashers for the school zones, Chief Selzler also advised motorists to be cautious around the crosswalks and sidewalks of children riding their bikes or walking to school. He noted that, like the school zone signs, the schools installed flashing lights on the pedestrian signs on Fisher Avenue a few years ago and a button the kids can push to activate them. Selzler recommended that parents tell their kids to stay within the crosswalks and for motorists to stop and let people cross the street if the button has been pressed and the lights are flashing.
Selzler also said that the schools would continue to have School Patrol Officers monitoring the bus and parent drop-offs every morning to help direct traffic and help students out of their cars when they’re dropped off. But also wanted to stress the importance of bus safety, saying that while the rules are easy to follow, they are very restrictive if violations occur. The important rule that Selzler wished to emphasize is drivers stopping and giving enough room to buses when they stop. As per state statute, when the bus’s “Stop” arm goes out, motorists are required to come to a complete stop (and not rolling or in motion at all) at least 20 feet from the bus, regardless of if you’re approaching from the front or rear and wait for the arm to go back in and the bus to continue moving again. “Once that Stop arm comes in, and even when it looks like they close the doors and you’re waiting a little bit, the bus is going to wait for everyone to be seated until they leave,” said Selzler. “I know everybody’s usually a little impatient in the morning if you’re running behind, but we really want to stress that you be patient and cognitive of everything that’s going on around the school bus and our kids.” Selzler continued by saying that children are much smaller than the bus and can be in danger if people are not paying attention on the road. Thankfully, Selzler reported that there are usually about a dozen violations with drivers and school busses in Crookston every year and warns that violations with busses can lead to fines over $500, especially if kids are present when they happen and can have a significant impact on people’s driver’s licenses. Selzler says the only time people do not have to stop for a bus is if there is a barrier separating a highway (a divided highway), the lane opposing the bus on the other side of the barrier is not required to stop.
The first day of classes for all Crookston Public Schools will be this Tuesday, September 6.
