“I’m just here for the safety of the kids,” Tom Kariean said Thursday afternoon as he paced the sidewalk along Main Street in a yellow safety vest waiting for pedestrians he could assist across the intersection at Center Street.
Over the span of about 15 minutes, three teenagers crossed the street; each of them stopping first at the curb and looking both ways before entering the crosswalk as Kariean stepped into the middle of the roadway with his hands held up for traffic to stop.
Kariean, of Wescott, said he heard about the elimination of the city crossing guard at the intersection and decided to volunteer his time.
“I’m an independent contractor. I can come and go and do whatever,” he said. “So I decided, out of the kindness of my heart, to come out here in the morning and try to help out for a half hour and then come back in the afternoon and try to help out.”
Kariean said he has had no training as a crossing guard, but police — after seeing him assuming crossing guard duties earlier this week — warned him about what he could and could not do.
“I can stop the traffic for the kids, but I can’t stop the traffic for school buses that turn on the street here,” Kariean said. “That’s a no-no. If something were to happen and there was some accident or something, I would be held liable.”
Police had received a complaint earlier in the week that Kariean was in the crosswalk stopping traffic to give right-of-way to the school buses.
As it turns out, however, even stopping traffic for the kids was a no-no.
A police officer parked nearby Thursday afternoon came over to Kariean at one point to remind him that he should not be holding his arms up to stop traffic. Kariean, he said, had no authority to do that because he was not an actual crossing guard.
He could enter the crosswalk — at which point motorists are supposed to yield, anyway — but could not direct traffic, the officer reminded him.
Kariean said he has assisted about six kids a day across the street, but that was only an estimate.
“I haven’t done a count. I’ve been too busy trying to direct traffic and trying to get these kids across,” he said. “I keep the flow going.”
Kariean said one problem he has seen over the last several days is distracted drivers.
“People are on their cell phones and not paying attention to the vest,” he said.
Kariean said he intended to continue volunteering his time as long as there was a need.
“I’m going to ride this one out, all the way, till they tell me not to come here no more,” he said.
A short time later, the ride ended, when Police Lt. Dan Mauel arrived and told Kariean they would like to see him move along.
Mauel said he wasn’t asking Kariean to leave, but said police would “prefer” that he did.
Mauel told him he had the right to go into the crosswalk like any other pedestrian, but the continued use of arm signals to stop traffic was a problem.
Kariean complied, removing his vest, folding it up and leaving the scene.
“It’s for his own safety,” Mauel said after Kariean left. “So he doesn’t get hit by a car. He doesn’t have the training or the authority to be out there. My understanding is he’s in the road directing traffic, stopping cars.”
Mauel said if Kariean hadn’t been doing that there wouldn’t have been an issue.
“He can stand on the sidewalk; he can cross the street as many times as he wants,” Mauel said. “But we don’t want him out there directing traffic. It’s a liability issue and it’s dangerous. He’s going to get hurt. He’s going to get somebody else hurt.”
The crossing guard at Main and Center streets was eliminated in the city budget starting this school year.
Nearby schools Sacred Heart Catholic School and St. James Lutheran School said they haven’t been approached by parents with any concerns.
St. James officials said the school’s younger children are not crossing Main Street there, and Sacred Heart has teachers accompanying the few students who cross.
The biggest concern city officials had was children being dropped off on the east side of Main Street for the Kids Klub after-school care program at First Presbyterian Church, located on the west side of the street.
That problem has been addressed by changing the bus drop-off location to the First Presbyterian parking lot.
The change relieved the concerns that the Rev. Susan Phillips, pastor of First Presbyterian, initially had.
“The bus driver pulls into the parking lot and lets kids off on the west side, so they’re safe and we’re glad for that,” she said.
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