Langley Elementary School in Eckington.

A crossing guard allegedly stabbed a MetroAccess driver on November 13 near DC’s Langley Elementary School in Eckington. Now the PTA is asking, how can the area be safer? They have some ideas. What do you think?

MetroAccess is the service for people with disabilities who aren’t able to ride fixed-route transit. According to reports, the MetroAccess driver parked blocking a crosswalk to pick up some senior citizens, and got in an argument with the crossing guard.

Resident Zack Gima says after the driver was arrested and charged, charges were dropped; there turned out to be no evidence the crossing guard had a knife. It’s thus far unclear whether the crossing guard actually stabbed the driver and if so, with what, but there was definitely an “altercation.”

But the bigger question of safety remains. The Langley PTSA (the S means it includes students) president, Christina Svolopoulos Robbins, sent an email to the community which Gima forwarded with permission:

Many of you have asked how you can help advocate for Langley. We need advocacy for better logistics and safety of T Street NE.

There are 4 schools (Langley, Harmony, McKinley HS and McKinley Jr High) all dropping off and picking up at roughly the same time. The Summit at St. Martin’s facility is across from our school and often has special services buses (like MetroAccess or emergency vehicles) that often block T street. All of this congestion leads to heated arguments and a less than ideal situation for our kids trying to get to & from school.

Please call, email and reach out to DDOT, Ward 5 Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, Mayor Muriel Bowser, ANC 5E Sylvia Pinkney, highlight these concerns at your Civic Association meetings asking for the below…

1) A traffic cop in front of Langley to help facilitate the morning pick up (7:30a-9:00a) and afternoon drop off (2:30p-5p).
2) Making T Street one way permanently.
3) Creating a no parking/loading zone in front of The Summit at St. Martin’s apartment complex across from Langley.
4) Making the crosswalks raised - more like large speed bumps to slow traffic.

Lastly, if you ever witness an altercation or anything that looks like it could turn threatening, follow these steps:
1) Be sure children are pulled to safety & call 911 immediately. Do not wait for administration or someone else to call.
2) Get names and contact information of witnesses so the police can better understand what occurred.
3) Tell school administration and do not leave until the Principal (Ms Kellogg or Principal Drumm) or Assistant Principal (Dr. Justin Lien) is aware and can talk to the police.

Gima says he thought these were good ideas and also wondered what ideas or feedback the GGWash community had. What do you think?