A student was hit by a van as he was crossing the street to get to school in Brockton, Massachusetts. Traffic safety is a concern for schools, which often pose unique and varied challenges. I keynoted a statewide school safety conference for the Massachusetts Departments of Education and Emergency Management in Brockton, and clearly recall an educator who served in an area public school district for more than forty years who attended the event in spite of a blizzard.

This incident highlights how school safety encompasses many different issues and there have been a number of students and school employees who have been seriously injured and killed in these types of situations. We recommend that school officials consider seeking assistance from local and state law enforcement officers to help them periodically review the movement of vehicles and pedestrians move to and from their schools each day.