Changes to School Crossing Guard Program Coming

In preparation for the beginning of the 2015/16 school year, Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Chief of the Fairfax County Police Department has written a letter to the community regarding changes to the School Crossing Guard program. Read the letter here:

Dear Community Member:

In the fall of 2014, the Fairfax County Police Department conducted an audit of all school crossing locations to review pedestrian safety and motor vehicle traffic flow. Based upon this audit and community input, we have re-trained our crossing guards and coordinated traffic flow issues with School Transportation. Additionally, several crossing guards were trained and certified to direct and control vehicle traffic outside the basic scope of just crossing children in the crosswalk. Our follow-up audits found these measures have assisted with pedestrian safety and mitigating traffic flow.

We will continue to audit all locations throughout each school year as mandated by our policy. Should you have any comments, please contact Captain Michael F. Grinnan, Commander of the Traffic Division, at michael.qrinnan@fairfaxcountv.gov.

For more detailed information regarding your local school start time, please visit: www.fcps.edu/news/starttimes.shtml.

As a reminder, the beginning of each school year requires all of us to take extra caution in traveling our roadways and to be patient as others adjust to new routines in our day to logistically get our children to and from school. As your Chief of Police, we welcome your input to improve the safety for our children.

Prior to the start of the 2015-2016 school year, we will provide you with additional school crossing information to include interactive maps and related policies.

Sincerely,

Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Colonel Chief of Police