School's fury over lollipop lady ruling

12/03/13 School GV - Thomas Russell Infant School, Station Road, BartonThomas Russell Inants School - Barton

A VILLAGE primary school has hit out after being told that its lollipop lady who retired nearly a year ago would not be replaced.

Lisa Farmer, co-head teacher at Thomas Russell Infants’ School, in Barton under Needwood, insisted that Staffordshire County Council’s decision was ‘not good enough’ and said the school had been forced to consider installing barriers outside its gates as an alternative means of keeping children safe.

Mrs Farmer also disagreed with the council’s stance that the school, in Station Road, was not a priority as it was in a cul-de-sac, countering that there had been many near misses outside the school, which will host an open event next week over the issue of speeding motorists in an attempt to solve the problem.

Mrs Farmer said: “It’s coming up to a year since our lollipop lady retired and we have been told that we are not going to be getting one by the county council. Apparently we’re not a priority.”

Mrs Farmer believes that if the school does not take it upon itself to take action, it will only be a matter of time before one of its pupils gets hurt.

Although there is a patrol on the nearby main road, it is outside the school gates that is causing the biggest concern.

The area became a 20mph zone in December, but the implementation of the new speed limit has not had the impact leaders at the school had hoped.

Mrs Farmer added: “Nothing has happened yet, but something is going to. There have been a lot of near misses. It’s not good enough for us.”

A spokesman for Staffordshire County Council said: “Not every school has a manned patrol and we have to prioritise the crossing points so that we can ensure the crossing patrols are placed where they are needed most.

“In this instance there is a patrolled crossing on the nearby main road. The location in question, outside Thomas Russell Infants’ School, is in a cul-de-sac and as such the only traffic is parents driving their children to school and parking outside the school gates. The crossing therefore does not meet the criteria for a further staffed crossing.”