As Clark County School District students return to classrooms Monday, Las Vegas officials are implementing significant safety enhancements around school zones that represent both a proactive safety push and a community response to tragic loss. The changes come just three months after 18-year-old Arbor View High School senior McKenzie Scott was killed by a drunk driver while crossing Buffalo Drive in a marked crosswalk near her school.
The city has installed new pedestrian safety flashers at the crosswalk on Buffalo Drive at the high school driveway and refreshed the crosswalk with added signage, according to 8 News Now. Officials are also planning to reduce the speed limit on Buffalo Road from Sky Pointe to Grand Teton Drive by the end of August 2025.
Expanded Crossing Guard Program
On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council approved adding $415,000 to its $2.8 million budget for crossing guards in 2025-2026, as reported by KTNV. The expansion includes 16 Clark County School District middle schools and three high schools, with Arbor View High School added to a pilot program that already includes Cimarron-Memorial and Palo Verde high schools.
The expansion builds on promising results from earlier pilots. Fox5 Vegas reports that a pilot program at Cimarron High School and Gibson Middle School showed zero crashes during school drop-off and pick-up times from November 2024 through the end of the school year. According to Clark County data, elementary school crashes decreased by 64% while middle school crashes decreased by nearly 70%.
McKenzie Scott's Legacy
McKenzie Scott was crossing Buffalo Drive inside the marked crosswalk when she was struck by a car driven by 37-year-old Keenan Jackson, who authorities said was intoxicated. Jackson's blood alcohol level was nearly four times the legal limit, and Scott was a promising student who had secured a full-ride scholarship and aspired to become a CIS investigator, according to News 3 Las Vegas.
The tragedy sparked immediate community action, with more than 30 people gathering for a "Justice for McKenzie" march near the corner of North Buffalo and Grand West Teton Drive. In the wake of her death, Arbor View High School parents volunteered as crossing guards to ensure students got to and from school safely, with one parent saying they will continue volunteering until a permanent crossing guard is in place.
Pre-Existing Safety Concerns
What makes Scott's death particularly tragic is evidence that safety concerns at that location had been raised well before the fatal incident. Email communications obtained from the Clark County School District reveal a City of Las Vegas employee notified CCSD about potential dangers at the crosswalk where Scott was killed, months before her death, stating concerns about speeding and the mid-block crosswalk on Buffalo Drive.
Another email from April 2025 from a parent whose child was hit by a car in the same crosswalk described the area as "an unsafe and even hostile environment." Seven days before Scott's death, a parent had emailed the CCSD traffic unit asking how they could petition for a crossing guard after their child was hit by a car in the Buffalo crosswalk.
Legal Framework and Implementation Challenges
Nevada law prohibits people from driving faster than 15 miles per hour in a school zone and 25 miles per hour in a school crossing zone, according to Shouse Law. While a typical speeding ticket in Las Vegas may cost $205 to settle, a ticket for violating school zone laws carries a $410 fine.
Despite the funding approval, implementation faces practical hurdles. The city still struggles to find enough crossing guards, with one official noting that reliability would be "the one thing that would slow down the implementation," as detailed by 8 News Now. The new crossing guards will not be in place for the start of the new school year, with guards being hired and placed at middle schools in the most hazardous traffic corridors first.
As students return to Arbor View High School and schools throughout Las Vegas, the enhanced safety measures represent tangible progress—though they come at the cost of lessons learned too late for one promising young life. Mayor Shelley Berkley emphasized the urgency of these measures, stating that ensuring children "get to school safely, and get home safely" is paramount for parents and grandparents throughout the community.
