Schools

After Student Sustains Brain Injury, City Council Addresses Need for School Crosswalk

Some parents have questioned why crosswalk wasn't included when school opened in 2010.

The Waukee City Council took action last week to improve pedestrian safety near an elementary school that opened in 2010, but the action comes too late to help an 11-year-old student who suffered a brain injury after being struck by a vehicle as she walked home from school.

Kate Dressel was injured on Aug. 23 when she crossed Southeast LA Grant Parkway, which borders South Elementary School, the Des Moines Register reports. The street was congested, blocking both the student’s and oncoming motorists’ views. She has been unable to return to school full time as a result of her injuries.

Her mother, Donna Dressel, said that she worried such a tragedy might occur because the school, located in a largely undeveloped part of Waukee, did not have designated crosswalks.

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The area has since developed and traffic increased, but the need for a crosswalk wasn’t addressed until Kate was injured. The City Council last week voted to pursue a traffic improvement plan that includes the installation of a pedestrian crosswalk near the elementary school. Completion is expected in late spring.

“Why did it take a tragedy for there to be this response?” Donna Dressel asked the City Council.

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Some residents, including former teacher Jeannie Sheldon, questioned why the crosswalk wasn’t created when the new school was built

“When a school is built, it should be no surprise to anyone that those kids need a place to walk,” she said.

However, Waukee Superintendent David Wilkerson said it’s not unusual for crosswalks and sidewalks to be lacking when new schools open in undeveloped areas “on the fringe of the city’s infrastructure.”

He said busing is always an option parents can pursue if they think an area is unsafe for walking.

Wilkerson reportedly told the newspaper that he wasn’t aware of any concerns surrounding student safety at South Elementary School before the accident in question, but said the district may have been at fault for not identifying the need.

The district has since sent notes home with students discouraging them from crossing LA Grant Parkway. Free bus service has been offered to families living in the Stone Prairie development, where the Dressels live.



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