Northern Lehigh School District won’t pursue a recommendation to hire additional crossing guards for intersections along Main Street in Slatington and Walnutport.

Superintendent Dr. Matthew J. Link told the school board on Monday that some parents in Walnutport were concerned about their children walking to school.

“This evening, I am recommending that the board approve the hiring of four crossing guards to serve at designated intersections along Main Street in both Slatington and Walnutport,” Link said. “With these crossing guards in place, we will provide increased supervision along a main walking route for our secondary students who live 2 miles or less from the school and are therefore ineligible to be roistered on buses.”

Link said the crossing guards would assist students at the following intersections:

• Main and Dowell streets near Turkey Hill in Slatington.

• Main and Center streets near Bechtel’s Pharmacy in Slatington.

• Main and North Walnut/Route 873 near ID Wraps in Slatington.

• Main and Canal streets in Walnutport.

“This evening, I am seeking direction from the school board as to whether you would like administration to pursue this recommendation by seeking permission from both boroughs to place crossing guards at the designated intersections, beginning the process of advertising of crossing guards, designating an on-boarding and training process, and purchasing the necessary equipment,” Link said.

Resident Joshua Pitten addressed the board about concerns with the current bus protocol.

“There is a bus within 5 minutes walking distance that has five children in the morning and 10 in the afternoon,” Pitten said. “There is your solution.”

Pitten added, “Walnutport children should not have to cross that bridge to get to school. We are not asking for buses to be rerouted, just that they provide our children transportation, and whoever sits upon this board who has outright said that they do not believe the money is not worth the buses, should not be sitting in those seats.

“This is our community, these are our children and our future. This is a safety issue: You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Furthermore, Pitten questioned how does a crossing guard in Slatington help his daughter cross railroad tracks, the Lehigh River and the Canal.

“It has been acknowledged by members of this board how dangerous that bridge is during the wintertime and the darkness of winter,” he said. “It is also acknowledged that Center Street does not have the sidewalks for a vast majority.”

Pitten asked board members if they could imagine walking to school if it were dark, 35 degrees and raining.

“As a 12-year-old, I would turn around and go back to bed with no encouragement because this board let me down,” he said. “Not only am I scared for her safety, but she is nervous to carry two backpacks, two meals and three waters to school because she is involved in three extracurricular activities.”

Pitten voiced other concerns as well.

“There are more than 20 registered sex offenders within the 2-mile radius of the Northern Lehigh Middle School,” he said. “How can I as a proud father think that you as a school board are doing the correct thing by allowing her to pass over all of these dangerous areas?”

Pitten challenged the board, saying “Let’s do better and make our children safe, because if it were your granddaughter, daughter, or niece, you would do anything to keep them safe.”

Board President Mathias Green then opened it up to the board for any discussion.

Hearing none, Green said they would move on, hearing no direction to move forward at this point in time.