From traffic laws to heat safety, Valley crossing guards train for new school year

The Maricopa Association of Governments is working with cities to provide training for crossing guards. It comes as students prepare to go back to school.

The training workshops are expected to cover topics related to procedure, heat safety and traffic law knowledge.

The goals behind the programs center around making guards comfortable in performing their duties and maintaining expectations.

Chris Gottsacker is the transportation engineer with the Maricopa Association of Governments.

“We also know that the presence of crossing guards helps parents feel more comfortable letting their kid walk or bike to school, which goes a long way, and the presence of the crossing guard does tend to make drivers pay more attention in the school zones, too,” he said.

Gottsacker also advises drivers to slow down, be patient and respect authority when approaching a crossing guard.

He credits the involvement of others who make the workshops happen.

“We could not pull off the workshops without the help of our local agencies. We have local agency staff that are actually doing the speaking. I did mention the fire department and police department speakers, but we have planning and engineering staff doing the training for the crossing guard procedures as well,” he said.

Those who want to register for the remaining workshops can do so on the Maricopa Association of Governments website.