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Accident spurs rally for more crossing guards

FIVE DAYS after a second-grader was hit by a car near an East Germantown corner with no crossing guard, about 30 schoolchildren and parents rallied there Wednesday morning to demand that the city hire more crossing guards.

FIVE DAYS after a second-grader was hit by a car near an East Germantown corner with no crossing guard, about 30 schoolchildren and parents rallied there Wednesday morning to demand that the city hire more crossing guards.

Of 1,037 intersections in the city that have been determined to need crossing-guard protection for schools, about 120 have none, according to the guards' union.

Friday's accident occurred near the unguarded intersection of Sprague and Woodlawn streets, outside Francis P. Pastorius School. An 8-year-old girl was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, but suffered no serious injuries, said principal Aaron Starke. The driver stopped and was not charged.

Since the accident, parents have volunteered daily to escort students across the intersection.

"We can't do it [alone]," said Veronica Goss, a mother of four who has two children enrolled at Pastorius. "We need the city and the parents to be more involved."

The school, which enrolls 526 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, normally has just one crossing guard, at Chelten Avenue and Sprague Street.

Yesterday, Starke grabbed his bullhorn and joined the parent volunteers to help cross students.

"We need as many resources as possible: crossing guards, security, teachers," Starke said.

Sign-waving second-grader Tionna Travers, 8, agreed: "The cars go zooming past here. We need more crossing guards so the children can be safe."

Protesters yesterday collected parents' signatures on a petition, calling for more crossing guards, to present to city officials.

At least 75 children on their way to or from school have been injured in the past three years in the city after getting hit by vehicles, according to school district data.