A Few Safety Reminders
Stay Safe Out There...
Dear Laurelhurst Community,
As some in the community may have heard, last Friday afternoon around 3pm, two of our students were crossing Glisan Ave. at NE 41st Ave., and one of them was struck by a vehicle. The student suffered a broken tibia, as well as bruises and scrapes, but thankfully no additional major injuries. We are incredibly lucky that the situation did not have a more dire outcome.
Laurelhurst School and the affected family are now in communication with the Portland Bureau of Transportation as well as the PPS liaison with PBOT. We are working to get this intersection attention; we hope to soon have an engineer come assess the area and review possibilities for enhancements, including flashing lights along the crosswalk, more visible ped xing signs in the center of the street, etc. We will keep the community updated as we move forward with PBOT.
A number of near-misses and non-injury accidents have taken place in recent weeks right around the school building. We would like to remind our community of drivers, bikers, and walkers of the following safety measures:
Please drive with the school TO YOUR RIGHT. The PTA is working on getting signage installed at the corners of the campus to remind folks of this unofficial rule. This is critical at pick up and drop off times.
Mind marked signage around school regarding parking areas with limited hours and/or stopping times. When dropping off your students from your vehicle, LOOK before you pull away from the curb. DO NOT STOP in the middle of the road to drop off your child.
DRIVE SLOWLY around the school, and pay close attention to the areas around the turf field and courts where balls tend to fly out into the street. Stay aware as you drive around corners. Some of our students are very small!
Remember, we are a neighborhood school, so most of our students walk or ride bikes and scooters to school in the morning. It’s a BIG number of students in a SMALL area. It is our responsibility as a community to keep all of our children safe.
Sadly and shamefully, the driver of the vehicle that struck the student last Friday did not stop. The emotional scars that the injured and non-injured student at the scene sustained will linger far after the scrapes have healed and the bones are mended. If you happen to have witnessed the accident on Friday afternoon, please reach out with ANY information you might have about the driver or vehicle so we can help this Laurelhurst family heal.
With Gratitude,
