The parent council at Eastern Primary School has launched a petition urging the council to keep the local school crossing patroller.
Dundee City Council is considering having the Church Street crossing permanently removed from the school crossing patrol list and is consulting parents.
Concerned parents of pupils at the Broughty Ferry school say there have been numerous occasions where children in the area have narrowly avoided being hit by cars.
“There have been near misses”
Sharon Robertson, secretary of the Eastern Primary parent council, is one of those opposing the council’s plan to decommission the patroller.
She said: “The petition is about the safety of the children.
“There’ve been near misses down on Queen Street and up here in the last few weeks. Last week a parent came to me directly saying a car had come through when the patroller was there.
“If that happens when there’s a crossing patroller – and also lights – what would happen if that patroller got removed? It increases the risk.”
The school had been without a crossing patroller at Church Street since the beginning of the school year due to Tayside Contracts struggling to fill the post.
Coverage at the crossing was eventually restored earlier this month but fellow parent council member Hilary Armstrong said the absence of a patroller meant younger pupils faced an increase danger when walking to school.
She said: “It’s a high traffic area and it’s a very busy crossing, the school crosser does a fantastic job.
“The difficulty is when there is no crosser people will park on the zig zag and double yellow lines so there are no sight lines for the children to cross. It makes it more dangerous.
“My little boy is in primary five and he can walk to school alone but it’s not safe without a crossing patroller.
“The patroller is about keeping children safe and there is no price on that.”
Grove Academy concerns
Proposals to remove the crossing patroller at Eastern Primary have also concerned members of Grove Academy’s parent council, with the secondary school neighbouring the primary school.
Jim Cochrane, safety representative on the Grove parent council, said: “Both sets of pupils could be in danger.
“It’s a busy junction and it’s a concern for the safety of the kids (if the patroller was removed).”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: “Consultation is still ongoing and we are asking the views of families. No decision has been made.”