Maybe JROTC could come back and provide school crossing guards...

October 3, 9:20 PMSF Education ExaminerCaroline Grannan

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FSK Elementary: glorious deco detail,but no guard.

A mom at Francis Scott Key Elementary School (at 43rd Avenue and Kirkham in the Sunset District) has been filling me in on the school community’s efforts to get a crossing guard outside the school. School crossing guards are provided by the city, not the school district – street safety is a function of the city, not of educators.

The city’s Division of Parking and Traffic says no dice, and Supervisor Carmen Chu hasn’t been able to help.

This is kind of messed up. The parents aren’t going to the trouble of asking for a crossing guard because they have nothing better to do but because they’re concerned that a child could be hurt or killed. Unless the parents are suffering from wildly overactive imaginations and baseless fears, shouldn’t that be a high priority for city government?

When FSK was built, somebody put some effort and money into fabulous art deco design elements. It makes you wonder if there was enough money for crossing guards at that time.

In the here and now, a staffer from the School Area Safety Program of San Francisco's Division of Parking and Traffic responded to the parent's query thusly:

“While I'm sure everyone would enjoy having a crossing guard around their school (after all, they are the most visible sign to everyone that children are nearby), we simply do not have enough crossing guards to fill all the requests that come in. Therefore, we have to prioritize where each of our crossing guards are stationed around the City.

Right now, all of our crossing guards have been spoken for this semester. We will reevaluate all our assignments again next year as conditions around the City's schools may change. … we are sorry that we couldn't comply with your concern immediately,”

This is not sexy or scandalous, but it still gives you one of those pangs of “what are our priorities, anyway?”