My name is Liam Miller and I am a Boy Scout in the Saugus-based Troop 228.
From kindergarten through sixth grade, I attended Golden Oak Community School in Canyon Country, along with my brother who is still enrolled at the school. During my time there, I’ve noticed there has never been a crossing guard keeping students safe, whether they are walking from or back to their home or from school. In the absence of a crossing guard, there could be a heightened risk of collisions between vehicles and students. This happened a few years ago, when a Golden Oak student was hit by a car while the student almost reached a curb after crossing Golden Valley Road at Via Princessa. The student was taken to the hospital, and she only ended up having minor injuries. Despite this, the city has yet to station a crossing guard near that school. This is most likely because of the low number of students that are attending Golden Oak compared to other schools in the area when the study took place. With the addition of the Aliento community near the school, the number of students attending and the amount of traffic near the school entrance each day has increased by a lot. There is also the Golden Valley shopping center that is near the school that brings more drivers to that area and increases the risk of accidents with students walking to and from the school even more.
While there isn’t a crossing guard at Golden Oak, there is one that is stationed at the nearby Fair Oaks Ranch Community School. One thing that should be noted is that there are a lot of students attending that school currently, which is likely why there is a crossing guard there. Because of this crossing guard, there have been no reported collisions at the school as of now. The same can’t be said for Golden Oak, and the accident involving the crossing student could have been prevented if there was a crossing guard. The city needs to change some of their policies to allow more schools to be eligible for a stationed crossing guard if more walking-students are going to be safer.
Liam Miller
Santa Clarita
