As expected, parent representatives from the Nassau Boulevard Safe Passage Initiative once again pleaded their case for a crossing guard before the Village’s Traffic Commission.

“We have gone to great lengths to bring the Garden City School District and the Village of Garden City together on this issue to work collaboratively,” said Susan Walsh, one of the parent representatives, at the November 19th meeting. “We have worked through the proper channels, educating the property owners’ association, the Village, the police and the school district about this issue. Our efforts have been met with finger pointing and in some cases resentment and hostility. We are trying to keep our children safe. This is about our children.”

Since September, when they discovered that their children would no longer receive busing because they lived less than one-half mile from Stratford School, parents have been trying to get a crossing guard assigned to the intersection of Nassau Boulevard and Stratford Avenue. This has proven to be no easy feat, as the Village of Garden City and Garden City Board of Education have continued to volley the issue back and forth.

The Village contends that according to their calculations the intersection qualifies as a Child Safety Zone. These zones, which are explained in the Child Safety Transportation Act of 1992, provide the one exception to the district’s 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.

The school district argues that according to their calculations it is not a CSZ. School districts are not required to establish these zones. Even if an area receives the designation, the Board of Education must vote on the matter. Walsh said parents are waiting to hear from the state education department if they can appeal the board’s decision.

Traffic Commission Chairman Donald Brudie announced at the Nov. 19th meeting that the village would ask the Automobile Club of New York to conduct its own independent analysis of the intersection. He claims the school board has just said five points separate their calculation from the Village’s, and has not provided the basis for their numbers.

“In view of the fact that the Board of Education has not presented the Village with irrefutable evidence to support their position that the crossing does not qualify as a school safety zone, Police Commissioner Cipullo has recommended that we call in an impartial party to evaluate the intersection,” he said.

If the automobile club, which is headquartered in Garden City, says it should qualify as a CSZ, the school board should designate the area a CSZ and resume bus service, according to Brudie. If ACNY says it is not a child safety zone, the Traffic Commission will make its recommendation and the Garden City Board of Trustees will have to vote on whether or not to assign a crossing guard at the intersection.

Trustee Donnelly said the problem should be resolved after ACNY does its own study. Susan Sonner, another NBSPI parent representative, said she is concerned that the county will soon be installing a walk/don’t walk sign with visual and audible counters. This will change the CSZ calculation, making it impossible to get the designation.

Trustee Laurence Quinn, who has discussed the issue with School Board President Colleen Foley, said the Board of Trustees should vote on hiring a crossing guard at the intersection for the duration of the school year. He said the need should be re-evaluated annually as the number of children change. Quinn said it may be wiser to place the crossing guard at another intersection where more children cross.

Walsh disagreed that the crossing guard should be placed at another intersection. There may be more children crossing elsewhere, but not at an intersection as dangerous as Nassau Boulevard. “I believe that every single child deserves the same thing,” she said. “The district has said to us over and over that it needs to be fair and equitable. I respect that, but it is not fair and equitable to the 20 children right now.”

When contacted by telephone after the meeting, School Board President Colleen Foley said the school board gave their calculations to the Village, as well as to Senator Kemp Hannon’s office. She said she made the board’s official statement at last week’s school board meeting and would not comment any further on the matter.

“New York State law and Dept. of Transportation regulations require the Board of Education to evaluate the circumstances and determine if exceptions apply. We have done that,” she said in her statement. “We have communicated this to not only the residents involved but have done so with all other agencies involved as we pursue actions we believe will improve safety. We believe all children should have safe access to school, whether they qualify for a bus or not.” She again called upon all governmental agencies, including the Village, to implement all actions within their control.

“From my perspective, there is something drastically wrong with this picture,” Brudie said. “This cavalier dismissal by the Board of Education and hand-off to the Village is surreal. In my opinion, the Board of Education’s primary concern is the safe passage to and from school of our children, especially when the buses are running the very route in question with an abundance of empty seats, as has been reported by the parents.”

Trustee Dennis Donnelly said he spoke with both Foley and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen about the issue. “I was told that the Village ought to butt out of their business, and their choice of whether to make this a Child Safety Zone or not was theirs. It had nothing to do with the Village, and there is not going to be a Child Safety Zone.” He said they also refused to seek an opinion from an impartial third party.

“I think it is disgraceful hearing what Trustee Donnelly just said that they told him we should butt out,” Brudie said. “Butt out of what? These are our children, these are our schools, this is our money that’s paying the taxes to support these schools, so where do they get the nerve to say ‘butt out?’ We’re not butting out of anything. We’re in it because you people are in it. You came to us. You are residents of the Village. You are taxpayers. You are parents who have children in the school, and you certainly have a right to be heard and we have the right to assist you, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

When asked for comment after the meeting, Foley denied using that language. “I think if all of us focus on our responsibilities and meet them, then reaching out and networking is an easier thing to do,” she said.

A Garden City resident, who asked that her name be withheld, said she found it difficult as a parent to sit in the audience and listen to Brudie say that he has a problem with the school board. “That’s not for us to worry about, and I feel it is an inappropriate thing to even bring up at a meeting like this....The finger pointing is really getting in the way of making decisions.”

As Brudie began defending his position which supports her cause, Garden City resident Kathy Wood stepped to the podium in an attempt to calm the situation. “I think what’s happening here is there’s just a general feeling of frustration and resentment building because nobody is working together for the sake of the children and that’s why emotions are flaring....If they’re not the first advocates for their children, then who is? The school district would be the second one, but they’re not, and they say they are bound by the law not to do that....They feel their hands are tied,” she said.

Walsh said she has been told “no less than 30 times” by school board representatives that “if they could get the kids on a bus they would.”

Brian Daughney, president of the Estates Property Owners’ Association, has sent a letter to the Traffic Commission in support of a crossing guard. “At the end of the day, you have a 7-year-old kid crossing the street,” he said. “Somebody has to do something. We believe the bus should be there.”