Parents, school board protest loss of crossing guard near location of Toronto van attack

Mother and father and Toronto Catholic District School Board officers are pressuring Toronto police and Mayor John Tory to reinstate a crossing guard who labored metres from the place the Toronto van attack occurred. Michelle Bell, whose son goes to St. Cyril Catholic School, is nervous that eradicating a crossing guard at Kempford Avenue and Yonge Avenue couldn’t solely have an effect on her kid’s security, but additionally harm the general sense of safety in the neighborhood. “It may take a very long time for individuals to recover from what occurred,” she stated. “So eradicating that additional security will not be a good suggestion. Not right now.” Guardian Delareese Mackenzie says the site visitors in Toronto warrants a crossing guard. She says she worries for her son, who will likely be going into Grade 6 this September.  “It places extra fear on the dad and mom — having them need to cross these busy streets alone,” she stated. “I imply, lights can solely achieve this a lot.” School board pushing to get guard reinstated The crossing guard was eliminated by police on Could 30 with out warning or session. Maria Rizzo, vice chair of the Catholic school board, says the choice was callous and insensitive, given the shut proximity of the intersection to the place the van attack occurred in April, killing 10 individuals and injuring greater than a dozen others. “I count on extra from our public service, particularly the police,” she advised CBC Toronto. Rizzo says households are nonetheless experiencing misery from the van assault that occurred solely two months in the past. Individuals visiting the memorial at Yonge Avenue and Finch Avenue one month after Toronto’s van attack. The makeshift memorial has been taken down and changed. (Makda Ghebreslassie/CBC Information ) “[The attack] simply might have occurred at 3:30 p.m. and never at 1:30 p.m.,” she stated. “I feel the influence of that has brought on an excellent deal of anxiousness to the individuals who work on the school, to the dad and mom and households concerned and the youngsters.” Earlier this month, the Toronto Catholic District School Board found that police performed a three-day examine, which concluded that there was not sufficient pedestrian site visitors to warrant a St. Cyril crossing guard. Trustees then drafted a letter to Mayor John Tory, signed by the board chair and the director of schooling, requesting that guard be reinstated in September originally of the school yr. Meaghan Grey, social media relations officer for the Toronto Police Service, stated the intersection does not warrant a crossing guard, in response to the unit commander of site visitors providers.  She stated the examine regarded at extra than simply pedestrian site visitors —together with signage, varieties of pedestrians, the historical past of collisions and every other issue that could possibly be thought-about a measure of highway security at that exact intersection. Grey additionally stated that the school can ask police to assign a brand new crossing guard, though assessments aren’t thought-about originally or finish of the school yr. Crossing guards are solely assigned in the course of the school yr. She additionally stated requests are granted in phrases of want. ‘What is the life of a toddler value?’ “There are a whole bunch of faculties within the metropolis and we simply do not have the assets, financially or human, to simply accept each single request that is available in.” Don Peat, the mayor’s director of communications, advised CBC Toronto town is asking the police for a proof. Maria Rizzo, vice chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, says crossing guards give communities a higher sense of safety. (Greg Ross/CBC) Rizzo says there is a crossing guard working in her neighbourhood near St. Robert Catholic School — an space that she believes has a lot much less site visitors than Kempford and Yonge. She thinks cash is perhaps on the root of the police choice. “I do not know what occurred, besides to say that maybe the finances might have influenced the method,” she stated. “However what is the life of a toddler value?” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/parents-school-board-protest-loss-of-crossing-guard-near-location-of-toronto-van-attack-1.4723239?cmp=rss