‘Paid in smiles and thank yous’: Moms in pedestrian safety group double as crossing guards

As Krista Holloway watched a group of Arbor View High School students gather at a crosswalk outside the school Wednesday, she talked about why she started her volunteer crossing guard group.

“I’d rather get hit than one of them get hit,” Holloway said.

As a mother of two Arbor View students, she feels a strong responsibility to keep children safe on their daily trips to and from school.

This year, Holloway founded Walk Safely LV, an advocacy group composed of four mothers who spend part of their weekday mornings and afternoons volunteering as crossing guards at two schools in the Las Vegas Valley.

The group formed in May, just days after 18-year-old McKenzie Scott was struck and killed by a suspected drunken driver while in a crosswalk outside Arbor View.

Five months later, the moms extended their mission to East Owens Avenue — a busy arterial between Rancho High and Smith Middle schools — after a 12-year-old student was fatally struck there Oct. 3 by a driver who police said was high.

The group’s presence at Owens was brief, lasting only a few days, before an independent group of moms from Smith Middle School stepped in and took control. Holloway left them with a few handheld stop signs to aid their efforts.

“I push moms to come together, get out there, and keep their kids safe,” Holloway said. “Unfortunately, it’s the 1 percent that are making the really bad decisions like getting behind the wheel after vaping or drinking. We can’t stop them all. But we can raise awareness that we’re out here.”

‘Our payment is their smiles’

Wednesday morning, Holloway joined Ashley Brewer and Bethany Limov to guard one of Arbor View’s newest safety additions — a crosswalk on Whispering Sands Drive just south of the school.

Brewer raised a handheld stop sign and ventured into the center of the crosswalk as a group of teens gathered on the sidewalk. She looked left and right to ensure that traffic was clear, and then ushered the students along.

Between crossings, Brewer complimented a girl wearing chunky black boots and reassured a boy who ran down the sidewalk, hoping to catch up and join the group actively crossing.

“I like the hustle,” said Brewer, a Las Vegas kindergarten teacher. “I got you, come on out.”

Weeks before Scott was killed, Brewer’s 10th-grade son suffered a fractured right leg after he was hit while riding his bicycle in the same crosswalk on Buffalo Drive.

“He still has a limp. He still has a lot of PTSD,” Brewer said. “When he goes near a car, he’ll bang on the side of it so they know he’s next to them.”

The crosswalk on Buffalo has since been assigned a paid crossing guard through the city of Las Vegas’ pilot program, which launched at the start of the school year.

By 6:30 a.m., Holloway and Limov had moved to support the designated guard, who declined to give her name. The volunteers noted that traffic had been steady, though calm, that morning.

Holloway added that they had not encountered an impatient or angry parent during the drop-off rush.

As school let out Wednesday at Arbor View just after 1 p.m., Holloway and Limov were back at the Whispering Sands crosswalk.

Just seconds after Limov stepped into the street to display her stop sign, she noticed a driver who had continued to creep toward the crosswalk, while a group of students readied to cross the road.

“Stop … stop!” Limov shouted, seemingly annoyed. “Crosswalk!”

Holloway and Limov said vehicles often come dangerously close to them when they are managing the crosswalk.

“These are great kids. … They were devastated by what happened to McKenzie,” Holloway said. “Our payment is their smiles and thank yous.”

Needing more volunteers

After months of organizing rallies, urging the city to take action, and filling in as unofficial crossing guards, Walk Safely LV joined government officials in August as they unveiled the road improvements to Buffalo and Whispering Sands.

Now that the school year has started, Holloway said, she has faced several roadblocks while trying to expand the group’s reach.

One major challenge, she noted, has been attracting more parent volunteers because the group is restricted from recruiting during campus events. For instance, they were prohibited from passing out flyers at the school’s open house.

Arbor View’s principal, Duane Bickmore, had been supportive of the group, Holloway said, but “we’re not associated with the school and the principal’s got a fine line, so we’ve had a lot of roadblocks.”

Holloway wants Walk Safely to be at schools — and maybe even school bus stops — across the valley, but she said recruiting troubles have hindered her efforts.

Bickmore did not respond to a request for comment.

Concerns about liability

Erin Breen, director of UNLV’s Road Equity Alliance and longtime advocate for pedestrian safety education, said she had met the parents behind Walk Safely and applauded their dedication. But she has concerns about their safety and qualifications.

“I worry about what happens if one of them is hit,” Breen said. “These are volunteer parents with no training, which is not to say that they have not learned a lot in the time they have been crossing kids. … Crossing guards are specifically trained for their job extensively, and they are required to have continuing education.”

“They are not part of the crossing guards or the school district, so who has the liability if something happens?” Breen also asked.

CCSD police officers, sometimes even approaching the moms for friendly conversation, are often close by during morning drop-off and afternoon pickup.

Holloway said later that she was not concerned about her safety or being sued.

“Let them try,” she said. “The situation that has been brought up revolves around whether there’s an accident because we’re in the crosswalk. But if there’s an accident while we’re in the crosswalk, that goes on the driver.”

Holloway said she didn’t receive any formal training before starting the group, but she did consult a former crossing guard who offered some pointers.

Asked about the group, a school district spokesperson said in an email: “Keeping our kids safe going to and from school will take a community effort. CCSD is proud to partner with many organizations that focus on student traffic safety.”

Efforts to reach the Clark County School District Police Department for this story were unsuccessful.

Along with Arbor View, the city of Las Vegas also has pilot programs for crossing guards this school year at Palo Verde High School and at Cimarron Memorial High School. City spokesman Jace Radke said the city has long had crossing guards at all elementary schools and added them to all middle schools in Las Vegas this summer.

A California company, All City Management Services, trains those guards, Radke said.

At first, Holloway said, parent demands for changes to the streets around Arbor View were met with the same response from the city: “Be patient.” But, over time, the city started inviting Walk Safely to be a part of the solution, holding meetings with the group to discuss each party’s goals.

Now, Walk Safely is scheduled to be recognized at Wednesday’s City Council meeting for its efforts to bring awareness to pedestrian safety, according to Radke. Holloway is slated to receive a separate award as citizen of the month.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com. Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com.