Students' frequent crossings concern many

Broad View Elementary School teachers are asking for the community’s help in keeping their students safe.

Several Broad View classes are housed this school year in the blue portable classroom buildings on school district property at the corner of Midway Boulevard and W. Whidbey Avenue, while the regular Broad View campus is remodeled.

Several times a day, each class must cross Midway Boulevard to use facilities and services at Oak Harbor Elementary School.

One teacher says that although there is a marked crosswalk with a crossing guard, some motorists aren’t paying attention, creating a potentially hazardous condition for the children.

“We’re just frantic over here,” said Lynn Brown, one of the teachers with a class at the site. “As teachers, we’re really nervous.”

Brown said she has witnessed cars speeding in that area of Midway as well as drivers that do not seem to pay attention to the crossing guard. Midway has two lanes of traffic for each direction, and Brown said she has seen cars in the lanes of one side stop for the guard, while drivers travelling in the opposite direction keep going.

Motorists need to be aware, Brown said, that grade school children cross Midway Boulevard near the old district office building, between seven and ten times per day, from morning to afternoon. Additionally, drivers going both directions should stop when directed to do so by the crossing guard. Brown also said that motorists should stop their cars a good distance from the crosswalk, to prevent their cars from being pushed into the crosswalk in the event their vehicle is rear-ended by another.

The teachers must bring their students to Oak Harbor Elementary for the use of the library and cafeteria, as well as for art and music classes, physical education, and recess.

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