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Update:Tuesday, we reported that West Jordan City would be responsible for implementing and paying for crossing guards and a plan for safe walking routes to Hawthorn Academy, a new charter school at 90th South and 22 West.
In the case of charter schools, state code does not specify whether the school or the city is responsible for implementing that plan. In the case of public schools in school districts that responsibility falls upon the city in which the school resides.
West Jordan, however, says it will help Hawthorn Academy in any way possible to implement the plan when it is complete.
WEST JORDAN -- Some parents whose children attend the new Hawthorn Academy charter school in West Jordan are worried about the safety of students who walk to school.
The academy, which opened Monday with enrollment of about 700, sits near the busy intersection of 9000 South and 2200 West. It's even busier now, with parents dropping off and picking up students.
Parents of children who walk to school are worried about their safety because there are no crossing guards.
One parent, Colette McNeill, said, "9000 South is a huge street and very, very busy."
A push-button crossing signal helps, but there's no painted crosswalk and no adult in an orange vest. McNeill says the children need help.
"I live within a baseball's throw of here, but I want to make sure they get across 90th safe," she said.
As part of a charter school, the parents are responsible for getting their kids to and from school. Hawthorn reports to the state, not a district, so there are no buses.
Principal Dr. Deborah Swensen said, "We already started to look into some of the walking routes. But until we know what our final population is, we don't know how many students are coming from which area."
Swensen wants to give the city an accurate plan. Then it's the city's responsibility to execute that plan and pay for it.
Until then, McNeill explained, "We've actually gotten together as a neighborhood and we're going to try to pull off days where we can just cross the kids. Moms are meeting on the corner, but we really need a crossing guard here."
It appears nobody dropped the ball by not getting a plan in place by the start of school. But the unique distinction of the charter school did delay the implementation of a safe crossing plan for the first few weeks of school.
The city and the school expect to have a plan in place by the end of September.
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
