Charleston Catholic H.S. keeping an eye on the streets for student safety

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — Every weekday morning and afternoon, some Charleston Catholic parents hold their breath. It's because students are crossing streets and commuters are either heading to work or heading out.

"It is a high traffic time," Colleen Hoyer, Charleston Catholic High School principal, said. "There are a lot of cars on the road, which is a good thing. We like being downtown. We like being a part of the local community. But we do have, between Sacred Heart and Charleston Catholic, we do have about 700 kids coming into school right at the time people are trying to get to work. So it creates a lot of traffic. It's a high congestion area."

Both the Charleston Police Department's Traffic Division and the administrators at Charleston Catholic take student safety seriously. But the responsibility just does not fall onto the kids shoulders. It's also very important for drivers to stay a part of this world when they are behind the wheel. Be aware of your surroundings. Stay off the phone. Don't get distracted by something in the morning such as eating or putting on makeup.

While Hoyer said the school has been blessed to avoid any major incidents, things can go south in a heartbeat.

About a month ago in northeast Maryland's Cecil County, a crossing guard pushed an 11-year-old girl out of harm's way when a driver ignored her instruction to stop. The child wasn't injured, the crossing guard sustained minor injuries and the driver received four citations.

It's a scene Hoyer does not want to see repeated here.

"I think we have been lucky with so many kids walking, crossing streets in such a high volume of traffic," she said. "There is a portion of luck that comes into play. And so we just want, we want to be good neighbors and we want the people around us also to be aware and be mindful of the young people."

Catholic's feeder school, Sacred Heart Elementary, uses a crossing guard. But only a blinking light alerts drives when high school students are in the area. Hoyer said even though there isn't a crossing guard standing in the street, the school tries to monitor the situation every day.

"It's something we always have to be watching out for," Hoyer said. "I mean, we have several, I'm at the door every morning. We have another administrator at a door. We have somebody who stands on the corner, an administrator who's out on a corner just keeping an eye on things, keeping the students safe. And we have to remind the young people as well, they've got to be aware when they're crossing streets and they've got to be looking around, But we need the drivers to do the same."

The Charleston Police Department's Traffic Division supervisor declined to talk with Eyewitness News on camera about the student crossings. He did say, however, that accident reports and citations don't indicate the streets around the school are exceptionally dangerous. Let's all try to do our best to try and keep it that way.

Charleston Police Traffic Supervisor Sg. Kevin Oldham said if Charleston Catholic's administration identifies any problem areas or activities on the streets and intersections around the school, extra officers will be assigned to patrol during morning and evening rush hours. He saids that generally helps remind drivers to slow down, pay attention to their surroundings and keep their eyes on the road.