Safe at school: Officials praise decision to close campuses

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, May 19, 2003 | 10:53 a.m.

When two Las Vegas High School seniors died last spring in a lunchtime car wreck, the Clark County School District responded by ending the practice of allowing students to leave school during lunch periods.

In the year since, district officials say they've seen tangible benefits from closing campuses, from fewer students showing up late to class after lunch to a drastic drop in the number of parking lot fender benders.

"It's been extremely successful," Patrice Johnson, principal of Las Vegas High School, said last week. "At first there was some resistance, but now students seem to have accepted the situation and are making the best of it."

While students at Las Vegas High School sympathized with the crash victims, several said the closed campus is more of a hassle than a help.

"I felt bad that they died, but they shouldn't take our privileges away because of that," senior Samantha Stringer said. "It's not going to make us better drivers to make us stay here and eat cafeteria fast food."

The closed campuses have been a boon for the district's food services division -- more than 25 percent of high schoolers are dining on campus fare, compared with 18 percent last year, spokeswoman Sue Hoggan said.

But while the cafeteria coffers are getting fatter, some students say their wallets are getting thinner.

Josh Logan, a senior, spent his first three years of high school crossing the street to his house each day for lunch. Now he must pay anywhere from $3 to $5 a day for cafeteria meals.

"Some days I'm broke, so I just drink a soda or something," Logan said. "I'd rather eat my mom's cooking."

The policy came as the result of a deadly ride back to campus from Burger King.

Ashley Troester, a 16-year-old unlicensed driver, was speeding back to school after a trip to the fast-food restaurant on May 9, 2002. She lost control of her 1987 Ford Thunderbird convertible. The car slammed into a light pole just a mile from the campus before shearing in half. Seventeen-year-old Natasha Keeter was killed immediately while Troester died a few days later at University Medical Center.

Also in the car were students Ashley Biersach, Kiley Quinn and Aleisa Valdez -- all of whom were injured. Biersach's right leg was amputated.

Before the crash, most of the district's high school campuses were already closed to lunchtime traffic. Four more were scheduled to switch from open to closed at the start of the next school year, while Las Vegas, Cimarron-Memorial, Advanced Technology Academy and Eldorado had planned to remain open.

The technology academy, a magnet school, had few problems with students during the open campus years but accepted the district's mandate without complaint, Principal Michael Kinnaird said.

"It's about keeping kids safe, and I have no problem with that," Kinnaird said.

But Quinn, who is still recovering from injuries sustained in the wreck, said closing the campuses isn't enough. She testified last week before the Assembly Transportation Committee in favor of Senate Bill 256, which would strengthen the state's driver's education requirements and set new limits for younger drivers.

"Kids are still going to mess around when they drive, it'll just happen after school," Quinn said. "Everyone thinks 'Nothing bad can happen to me.' But it can, I know that now."

In fact, only months after the Las Vegas High crash, after the closed campus policy was already in effect, Centennial High School junior Ryan Sneed -- ferrying his sister and three friends home after school -- ran a stop sign and slammed his red Jeep Cherokee into a tractor-trailer. Sneed was killed and his passengers injured.

"We're talking about a 16-year-old boy who had his license all of nine days," said John Phillips, a Las Vegas driver's education teacher. "We have to put some experience into our kids before we put them behind the wheel."

Phillips said his frustration over the two fatal wrecks -- and years of reading about similar ones -- motivated him to organize the Teen-Age Drivers Public Forum, a coalition of parents, activists and law enforcement officials that helped draft SB256.

"Closing the campuses is just a drop in the bucket," Phillips said. "The major problem is parents are letting their kids go out on the road unprepared."

Even those who knew the victims say the shock of the wreck hasn't had a lasting effect on their own driving habits.

For a short time after the crash, Barbie Randolph found herself slowing down on the stretch of Sahara Avenue where the wreck occurred.

"For a while I was going 35 even though the signs said 45," Randolph said. "Now I'm back to going 50."

That doesn't mean students don't remember what happened just a year ago -- or the lessons that can be learned from it. Balloons, flowers and handwritten messages adorned the light pole on Sahara Avenue last week, just a mile from the campus entrance.

Cars heading away from the high school are greeted by a large, black sign emblazoned with white letters -- Never Forget.