Parents seeking a crossing guard at the busy intersection of Nassau Boulevard and Stratford Avenue have grown increasingly weary as the Village’s Traffic Commission and Garden City School District administrators and school board disagree on whether the area qualifies as a Child Safety Zone.

“What has happened now is that the Village and the district cannot agree on this,” said Susan Walsh, one of four parent representatives from the recently formed group called the Nassau Boulevard Safe Passage Initiative, at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Garden City Board of Education. “At this point we really are stuck in the middle of craziness.”

In July, the board officially adopted the changes to the student transportation policy, which affected the transportation status of 118 students. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen had emphasized that the policy change was necessary because the policy was not consistent with New York State law at the primary and elementary school levels.

Dr. Feirsen had recommended that the transportation department revise routes to end the busing of students who live less than one-half mile from Hemlock, Homestead and Stewart Schools, with the exception of the areas he proposed be designated as Child Safety Zones.

When David C. Murphy, Jr., the district’s transportation supervisor, was conducting his final routing with updated GPS software, he discovered that there was a section of the Village that should not receive busing under the newly revised policy. Twenty-two students who attend Stratford School who live on a section of Brixton and Kilburn Roads running north and south from Stratford Road, as well as two homes on Stratford Road, were affected.

Dr. Feirsen recognized that parents were not given much notice but defended the districts’ actions as they tried to be “fair and equitable” to all parties involved. “It’s important for us to be consistent in the application of the district transportation policy,” he said.

A group of parents formed the NBSPI to advocate for their children, who range in age from seven to 10 years old. “When you talk about fair and equitable, I understand that it has to be fair and equitable, but for these children right now, it is not fair, nor is it equitable,” Walsh said.

Walsh said she and other members of the group attended the October 15th Traffic Commission meeting in an attempt to get a crossing guard at the intersection. According to Walsh, she was told to bring the matter to the school district because the children should receive a bus. “What we were told when we went to the Traffic Commission last week was that we should be on a bus, every one of these children should be on a bus. That’s what we were directly told.”

School Board President Colleen Foley said it was “unfortunate” that the Traffic Commission told the group to ask the school district for a bus. “School boards are the ones who understand schools and education law and education regulations the best,” she said. “I believe we have our own areas of expertise, and to function properly, should probably stay in each of those areas, so that we can work together. It is unfortunate that a statement was made that you should come back and demand a bus, because if it were that easy I think most of us would probably have figured that out already. I think those of us who have actually put in the time to learn what is going on, put in the energy to understand the situation, actually take the time to show up at the intersection, are probably the better ones to comment on it. It’s not clear to me that all of us have done that.”

When contacted by The Garden City News, Deputy Mayor Donald Brudie, who is the chairman of the Traffic Commission, offered the commission’s position: “The Garden City Police Dept. did a point evaluation of the intersection in question (which is not contiguous to a school) and determined that it met the New York State requirements for a safety zone. The School Board apparently disagrees.

“In view of the fact that young children are unpredictable and may dart across this busy intersection regardless of safety devices, it is our opinion that bus travel would be the safest means for these young children to travel and we recommended that they pursue busing with the School Board. However, they were also advised that the Village is continuing to press Nassau County, who has jurisdiction over this county road, to install added traffic safety devices. Keep in mind also that busing would obviate these young children from crossing this intersection in all degrees of inclement weather.”

Dr. Feirsen, who personally visited and observed the intersection with Albert Chase, the district’s assistant superintendent of business and finance, disagrees about the Child Safety Zone designation. “We have looked at the regs and made our calculations, and by the standard frankly that we used last year when we looked at the Homestead, Hemlock and Stewart situations, it’s my opinion that this does not qualify for Child Safety Zone status.” He cited several reasons: the intersection has a traffic signal, push-button device to control the traffic signal, a crosswalk and sidewalks. “Sidewalks are a major nullifier of the point system for Child Safety Zones.”

These zones, which are explained in the Child Safety Transportation Act of 1992, provide the one exception to the mileage-only criterion. School districts do not have to follow a mileage-only criterion if the area in question is designated a Child Safety Zone due to extremely hazardous conditions. Points are assigned to various types of hazards, which fall into three types: highways without sidewalks or adequate shoulders, highway intersections and highway-railroad grade crossings.

School districts are not required to establish these zones and Dr. Feirsen has said it is a very rare occurrence. Even if an area receives the designation, the Board of Education must vote on the matter. He explained that CSZs are designed to be used as “a last resort” after all other available options have been examined.

“While the Traffic Commission can vote for a crossing guard, isn’t it the School Board’s responsibility to have fully explored the safety zone issue first before coming to the Village?” Brudie asked in an e-mail to The Garden City News.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Dr. Feirsen said the school district was examining every option. “We have been engaged in discussions with the Village pretty much since we found out this situation existed. The Village initially was very willing to cooperate and change everything that they could, but we discovered that Nassau Boulevard is a county road, and therefore the Village can’t control it.”

The school district wrote to Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, and Raymond Ribeiro, P.E., the county’s commissioner of the Dept. of Public Works, asking for acknowledgment of the busy intersection, as well as installation of walk/don’t walk signs with visual and audible counters, crosswalks around the entire intersection and “no right turn on red” signs. They also asked that the red light be extended to allow maximum time for crossing.

Suozzi sent a letter to the district saying Ribeiro would examine and respond. The district is waiting to hear from his department. “So we hope that has gotten the ball rolling.” Dr. Feirsen said.

In addition, Senator Kemp Hannon, at Dr. Feirsen’s request, has reiterated the district’s concerns to Suozzi and wrote to Ribeiro requesting a traffic study. Legislator Vincent Muscarella told Dr. Feirsen he will ask Ribeiro for a “quick decision” on the matter.

“We will continue to be open to any effort we can make with the Village, or the county, or the town, to improve the situation,” Dr. Feirsen said.

Walsh, who submitted her group’s 10-page petition requesting that the crossing receive CSZ designation, asked the board to officially vote that it does not qualify so they can have something concrete to take back to the Traffic Commission. Dr. Feirsen explained that the board could not take that action because he would first have to make a recommendation. “I do not believe that it qualifies as a Child Safety Zone and I am not making a recommendation to the board,” he said.

Brudie said the school district should have filed an application with the state to designate the intersection a Child Safety Zone. “Their failure to file is inexplicable as the safety of these young children appears more probable on a bus than traversing what the parents repeatedly exclaim to be a very dangerous roadway,” he told The Garden City News via e-mail. “The Traffic Commission was hoping that this intersection would be declared a safety zone and the matter resolved by the School Board as it is my understanding that they are fully aware that if the Traffic Commission votes to place a crossing guard at that location it nullifies any potential of declaring the intersection as a safety zone.

“As I expressed to the parents at last week’s Traffic Commission meeting, I would, if in their position and was concerned for the safety of my child, drive my child to school or car pool pending our resolution of this issue. I did this when my children were in school, and I am certain that many other parents did the same thing.”

Walsh said the NBSPI agrees with Dr. Feirsen that the intersection is not a CSZ. However, the group will not give up in its quest to get a crossing guard and will attend the next Traffic Commission meeting, which will be held Nov. 19, as they continue to advocate for their children. “They are at risk every day crossing the street, and no matter how many safety devices you put up, that does not save one of those children as a car goes speeding through a red light, which we have all witnessed numerous times in the seven weeks in which these children have been going to school,” she said.

School Board President Foley said she would discuss the issue with Laurence Quinn, who is on the Garden City Board of Trustees and Traffic Commission, and who also serves as the BOT’s liaison to the school board. “We’re going to utilize every resource we have to see what can be done within our parameters to make that intersection safe,” she said. “We will continue to encourage the Village to work with us, and we will work well together.”