Led by Lakota Schools Superintendent Ashley Whitely, the panel also included representatives from the Butler County Sheriff’s department – which patrols Liberty Twp. schools - West Chester Police, the Butler County Engineers office and Liberty Twp. Trustee Todd Minniear.
A group approach is essential, said Whitely, for solving the multi-faceted safety issues of roadways just beyond the boundaries – and legal responsibilities – of school campuses.
“This is really a community effort,” Whitely told the audience. “This is a joint effort on all of our parts and we all take responsibility in that … to make sure we are brainstorming short term and long term impact.”
On May 15, Lakota East Freshman student Aspen Runnels was walking in the crosswalk at the intersection of Bethany Road and Liberty Court just after 2 p.m. when he was fatally struck by a vehicle.
Last week the driver of the vehicle, Kaitlyn Hyde changed her plea to guilty of one count of vehicular homicide and the judge accepted her plea change and scheduled her sentencing for December 4, according to the Journal-News’ media partner WCPO-TV.
A crash report states Hyde, driving a pickup truck on Bethany Road in front of the Liberty Twp. school, failed to yield the right of way to Runnels, hitting him.
And in September a 17-year-old Butler Tech student from Lakota West High School was struck by a vehicle while walking in a crosswalk on West Chester Road that runs along the southern border of the campus and was hospitalized.
Matthew Loeffler, county traffic engineer, fielded a number of queries involving suggestions for roadway changes near schools.
Loeffler noted the crosswalk in front of Lakota East Freshman School has already been extended to enhance safety along with brighter signage light warning traffic to slow while traveling through a school speed zone.
Ideas proposed by some online and at the public forum included more crossing guards on duty, rumble strips, speed humps and speed cushions, installation of roundabouts near schools and other suggestions.
Participating officials promised to respond to all questions raised by those in person at the meeting and those who provided opinions via Lakota’s online survey.
Loeffler said some of those roadway changes must be approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
“Rumble strips do a great job at alerting the driver but they also never get turned off,” he said referring to the noise passing vehicles can make in disturbing nearby residents and businesses.
West Chester Twp. Police Captain Seth Hagaman said more officers in cruisers have been present along West Chester Road next to Lakota West since the September accident.
Moreover, he said traffic patterns are being considered for changes to better protect student pedestrian travel, which after school includes dozens of students who walk to the nearby MidPointe Library.
“All West Chester schools are under evaluation by our police department for traffic flow and issues,” said Hagaman.
Whitely said “we are continuing to discuss traffic patterns, particularly with Lakota West administration as a team on what we can do.”
She said school officials are also working on a public service announcement (PSA) video that will be added to safety instructions for both student pedestrians and student drivers at the district’s two high schools.
Lakota school parent Christina Norris of Liberty Twp. said “I definitely appreciated the school system’s meeting.”
“This is going to take a collaborative effort of everybody who is up there on the panel and all of the parents. We all bring something to the table and we all have to figure it out together.”
“This is a good step and hopefully it amounts to something in the future.”
(WCPO-TV contributed to this story)
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