LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Five new high schools have been added to the list of those that will have crossing guards this upcoming school year.
The city of Las Vegas announced that Bonanza, Centennial, Desert Pines, Shadow Ridge and Western high schools will have crossing guards beginning August 10, the first day of school for students in the Clark County School District.
WATCH | Guy Tannenbaum has the latest on the additions and hears from locals who are pleased with the news:
These schools join Arbor View, Cimarron-Memorial, Clark and Palo Verde high schools with crossing guards in the city of Las Vegas.
The funding for three of those four high schools, as well as all middle schools in the city, came after months of advocacy by concerned local parents who wanted more done to improve safety for kids across the valley.
PREVIOUS REPORTING| Local safety advocates react to increased funding for school crossing guards:
In the 2024-2025 school year, the city only staffed crossing guards at elementary schools. However, unprecedented community concerns about traffic safety around schools — especially after the death of Arbor View High School Senior McKenzie Scott in May 2025 — have elevated the calls to add crossing guards to middle and high schools all across the valley, not just in Las Vegas.
In the wake of Scott's death, Arbor View parents started volunteering as crossing guards at the crosswalk where she was hit and killed by a DUI driver, creating an organization called "WalkSafelyLV" — last summer, their calls for change resulted in traffic safety improvements and eventually the addition of permanent crossing guards at Arbor View.
Channel 13's Guy Tannenbaum has been following this story for more than a year, and caught up with WalkSafelyLV's founder Krista Holloway on Tuesday to get her reaction to the news that more high schools will have crossing guards.
"I'm ecstatic, I can't tell you how happy I am — literally, I think I have a tear right now," Holloway said.
Since founding WalkSafelyLV, Holloway has continued to advocate for the addition of crossing guards at schools all over the valley, including at Centennial High School.
"We were out here [volunteering at Centennial], and we literally had a parent drive past us and say, 'Oh my gosh, are we getting a crossing guard?'" Holloway said. "We said, 'We're working on it!' — so, yes, they desperately needed one here."
In fact, data from the valley's School Traffic Safety Working Group — comprised of local law enforcement and officials from every jurisdiction in Clark County — shows that of the 427 students hit by cars last school year, a large majority were in high school.
"I'm so thankful that the city did their research, looked at the data and realized that with the 51% of students being hit last year being high school students, that they saw that and are doing something to keep our kids safe," Holloway said.
This also comes as we saw a 356% increase in crashes involving students last school year, with nearly half of those involving e-bikes or e-scooters.
Also new this school year, fines have been doubled for reckless driving in school zones.
WATCH | We just recently caught up with CCSD police to hear the message they have for parents to help keep kids safe this upcoming school year:
The city says they currently spend $3.59 million annually to fund 322 crossing guards across 92 schools in their jurisdiction, and will continue to evaluate additional high schools to determine if crossing guards will improve safety at those sites.
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