An SUV driven by Erwin Parker, 88, who was at Benton to pick up his granddaughter, ran over Hayes when his foot became stuck between the accelerator and the brake and the vehicle lurched forward, Kennedy said. After striking Hayes, the vehicle continued until it crashed into another vehicle.
Rescue workers freed Hayes from under the SUV, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neosho R-5 Superintendent Jim Cummins said, "Yesterday, was one of those days administrators pray they will never have to face."
Losing Hayes, Cummins said, was not the just the death of a teacher to those in the Neosho District, but it was "the death of a family member."
Classes were canceled today and Friday at Benton Elementary. Counselors have been made available at the Civic in Neosho.
Bad loss and maybe a person 88 should not been driving a SUV without adult supervision. Need a hard look at all those parents lined up to pick up kids instead of riding bus, bicycles or walking. Maybe let people park and kids go to vehicle and then everyone stays put until all the kids are picked up and leave in orderly adult fashion.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a terrible thing for all concerned. Teachers are professionals and should not be required to do parking lot/crosswalk duty. Do other professionals have to do parking lot duty?Teachers are not provided training to do crosswalk duty. This teacher lost her life because of car duty. I think it is past time to have a conversation about this. There are plenty of options out there. The district could hire professional traffic cops, train a group of citizen volunteers, hire returning veterans....
ReplyDeleteTwo questions. One, what the hell is an 88 year old doing operating a motor vehicle and two, why are the pick up areas at Neosho Schools so damned convoluted?
ReplyDeleteOh my!
ReplyDeleteAll pick up areas are crazy busy with people who all want to leave faster than possible.
Training others isn't any different than training teachers. And yes, teachers are trained.
You don't have to be 88 to have your foot get stuck on the accelerator. That's why it's called an accident.
While reviewing procedures, training and lay out for drop off and pick up lines should be done, some of these comments are hurtful and unhelpful.
There are many discussions and things to be reviewed and learned from this but now we need to be in prayer and comforting each other.
I am a teacher and have never been trained to do car duty and neither have any of the teachers I know. They do not even have colored safety vests that are standard everywhere. I am sure Modot would be happy to come in and evaluate traffic flow at all Neosho schools and plan a better flow and I am sure Branco would be happy to do the work as a tax write off.
ReplyDelete