Authorizing City Council's Committee on Legislative Oversight and Committee on Public Safety to hold joint hearings to investigate the alarmingly high number of incidents in which our school children are struck by vehicles on their way to and from school.

WHEREAS, Our children are the future of this City and must be educated in an atmosphere in which their safety is not only guaranteed, but considered to be the highest priority by this City government; and

WHEREAS, Our children deserve and require a safe schooling environment not only within the confines of the school building but also extending outside of the school building as well; and

WHEREAS, In the previous school year alone, there were seventy incidents in Philadelphia in which school children were struck by either a car or bus, and during this current school year there have already been twenty six incidents, nearly double the amount of incidents that occurred during that time frame last year; and

WHEREAS, It is apparent that there needs to be a careful review of the monitoring and evaluation processes of those public employees that are charged with the safety of our children outside of the school building to ensure that their duties are fulfilled; and

WHEREAS, The current training program for our City's crossing guards must be improved and made more comprehensive in order to reduce the number of incidents occurring; and

WHEREAS, Current parking restrictions which prohibit parking in certain areas around our schools were written to protect our school children and must be strictly enforced by our Police Department; and

WHEREAS, A review must be made of the best practices of other cities in this field to ensure and guarantee the safety of our children so that their school day begins and ends with education, not tragedy; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That authority be given to the Committee on Legislative Oversight and Committee on Public Safety to hold joint hearings to investigate the alarmingly high number of incidents in which our school children are struck by vehicles on their way to and from school.

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