LAKELAND, Fla. — Some parents of students at Griffin Elementary in Lakeland say they are worried about getting their children safely across Kathleen Road.
The school sits along the busy road, where the posted speed limit is 45 mph. Parents who cross Kathleen Road during drop-off and dismissal say cars do not always slow down, and vehicles sometimes block one of the marked crosswalks near the school.
Tampa Bay 28 went to Griffin Elementary during dismissal to see the conditions firsthand. We saw heavy traffic around the school, vehicles blocking portions of the crosswalk, and parents crossing Kathleen Road with their children.
We also saw two young children with backpacks crossing Hanley Road at the intersection with Kathleen Road, directly outside the school, on their own.
"It's scary," Griffin parent Danielle Heptinstall said. "You've got people parking in the crosswalk. They're not slowing down. There's not a speed limit sign. There's nothing to protect us."
Another parent, David Maxwell, said drivers move too quickly near the school.
"I have to watch as well. Just like being a child. Because you never know, the cars are flying, you don’t know if they’re going to run you over," Maxwell said. "But, it's a little bit fast. Need to slow them down a little bit."
Parents want improvements
Parent Brandi Pollino started a Change.org petition in August calling for a reduced-speed school zone, lower speeds and additional safety measures at the school crossing.
The petition has now gathered almost 100 signatures.
Parents say they would like to see some of the safety features found at other schools, including flashing school-zone lights, reduced-speed signs and other warnings for drivers.
Heptinstall said she worries the concerns will continue to go unanswered.
"I'm afraid that we're still not going to be heard and that our kids are still not going to be safe," she said.
What the county says
Polk County Traffic Manager Amy Gregory says the county has evaluated traffic and pedestrian safety around the school in the past and "has not found justification for any improvements."
Gregory says reduced-speed school zones are generally intended for uncontrolled crossings where children need help slowing traffic or for school frontages where children are walking close to the roadway.
She says the school does not meet those criteria because students use a sidewalk along the school, and the county has a signalized crossing at Kathleen Road and Hanley/Prine Road.
But during two visits to the area during dismissal, we did not see a crossing guard at that intersection.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office, which manages the county's school crossing guard program, told us two guards are assigned to Griffin Elementary at Kathleen Road and Knights Station/Griffin Road, which is roughly a fifth of a mile south of the school.
The county says no improvements are currently planned. Gregory previously told us she planned to conduct another review after Labor Day to see whether conditions had changed.
As of Monday, that review had not happened. Gregory said she expects to visit the school sometime next week.
School district welcomes improvements
Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) says it is aware of the concerns at Griffin Elementary and has shared them with law enforcement.
Importantly, the district did not specifically endorse the county's assessment that no additional improvements are needed.
Instead, PCPS told Tampa Bay 28: "We welcome any improvements that would benefit student and pedestrian safety."
We later asked the district directly whether it agreed with the county's assessment that the existing setup was adequate.
PCPS declined to provide additional comment.
Who controls the road?
The City of Lakeland says the section of Kathleen Road outside Griffin is county-owned, meaning the county makes decisions about pavement markings, signs and school zones.
The city said it received one request this year from a parent concerned about children crossing Kathleen Road.
The city does operate the traffic signal at the school driveway. Officials said they adjusted the signal timing after a request from PCPS to give more time for the line of parents leaving the school to clear the driveway.
For now, no new school-zone or roadway improvements are planned.
The county's promised follow-up review is expected next week.
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