‘Get them here safely’: CCSD urges school zone caution after 2 fatal collisions

National Walk & Roll to School Day on Wednesday felt more somber than in years past to Warren Elementary School Principal Hilary Eisen.

The annual event is held to preach pedestrian safety strategies when navigating to and from school, a topic Eisen said is important for her students since most walk to the campus.

But after two Clark County School District students were struck and killed by vehicles in the past week, Eisen asked all Las Vegas drivers to be more careful near schools.

“I don’t want my kids to get hit,” she said. “We need them here to become productive citizens and good people and get them here safely so they can learn.”

On Monday, 12-year-old Haylee Ryan was struck by a school bus while riding a bicycle near Lied STEM Academy, where she was a student. She died the next day. Cristofer Suarez, a 12-year-old student at Smith Middle School in North Las Vegas, was hit by a suspected impaired driver while walking to school on Friday morning. He died Monday.

Students at Warren Elementary started their day by marching around the school’s perimeter holding hand-drawn signs to commemorate Walk & Roll to School Day and received neon green drawstring backpacks to wear. A bee mascot wearing a reflective safety vest and a bicycle helmet greeted students on their way into school.

One student, fourth grader Keniyah Thompson, said drivers need to be more responsible by not speeding in school zones. Another, fifth grader Jahsiah Lau, said pedestrians should always pay attention because, “you never know what could happen.”

“You could always get hit because of the driver going too fast, and you never know if he’s going to stop or not for you,” he said.

‘Slow down and pay attention’

As kids filed into class, school district safety officials urged drivers across the valley to exercise caution in school zones and asked students to keep their heads on a swivel when walking or biking to and from school.

Jennifer Grube, coordinator for CCSD’s Safe Routes to School program, said she’s spoken with local officials about improving road and pedestrian infrastructure around schools. But in her role as a pedestrian safety educator, she said there’s only so much she can do to prevent accidents from happening.

“We want to encourage and promote safety on our roadways, but when it comes to the drivers, I have no control over what they’re doing in the vehicle. That’s the frustrating part,” Grube said. “It’s all-encompassing, and we all have to come together as a community. We can’t just focus on one thing and expect changes.”

Grube said she tells students to be defensive walkers and to always be aware of their surroundings, advice echoed by school district police Lt. Bryan Zink.

“Any time you’re near a school, you need to slow down and pay attention,” Zink said. “Just be that good driver, pay attention, slow down, don’t drive impaired. Give our kids a chance to get to our schools so that they can learn, give our staff members a chance to get to school so they can come in and educate the future.”

Zink referenced a new law enacted in July that allows school districts in Nevada to install cameras onto school bus stop arms. He said the school district is in the process of installing those cameras onto its bus fleet and expects them to play a major role in enforcing traffic safety around schoolchildren.

“It’s sad that it’s come down to that, to where to get our kids to school safely we have to invest in technology to write a lot of tickets, but hopefully people will learn,” Zink said. “It would be great if we could have one school year where nobody got hit going to or from school.”

On Tuesday, Superintendent Jhone Ebert said 84 students have been hit by cars on their way to and from school this school year, more than double the 39 collisions this time last year.

“Right now, we need immediate action with the community’s help to protect our children,” Ebert said Tuesday. “This is not only a loss for students’ families and siblings, it’s a loss for their teachers, their classmates, it’s a loss for the entire community.”

The school district established a Traffic Safety Working Group in August aimed at developing a plan to improve traffic infrastructure and enforcement. The group is expected to have a plan by spring 2027, Ebert previously said.

During and after the event at Warren Elementary, two school district police officers on motorcycles ticketed three drivers around the campus: two for making illegal U-turns and one for double parking.

Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.