School Safety Is Top of Mind

The sound of screeching brakes and of small feet hitting the pavement in the early morning would make any parent's heart skip a beat.

As school starts Monday in Montgomery County, school safety — and particularly the safety of children walking to and from school — is on the minds of many.

In anticipation of the start of school, the Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger stressed on Aug. 26 that it is important for parents to remind their children to use crosswalks and to look both ways before crossing the street.

The department has also responded to multiple requests from residents about their concern for their children and just installed 25 new speed cameras, many of them next to schools.

This idea comforts Suzan Jenkins who walks her 9-year-old son to East Silver Spring Elementary School and back every day.

Jenkins lives on Sligo Avenue and doesn't like that "people can get up to 60 mph on my street."

She expressed an interest in wanting speed cameras in her area that would slow down traffic.

"We finally got a crosswalk, but it needs more signage so people will stop," she added.

But not all parents are thrilled at the idea of having more speed cameras in the area, which were initially quite controversial when they were approved by the Montgomery County Council in 2006 and installed in 2007.

Lanita Whitehurst of Silver Spring drives her two children to school and said she thinks the speed cameras just penalize parents who drive their kids to school.

"Speed cameras do slow people down, but where some of them are positioned leads me to think it's just to take money from hard-working people," Whitehurst said. "Mostly parents taking their kids to work are penalized."

Whitehurst said she thinks there are other ways to send the message of safe driving without punishing people financially.