A 10-year-old boy named Jude was struck by a car early Monday morning while walking through a designated crosswalk at Paseo Verde Parkway and Desert Shadow Trail near Paseo Verde Park in Henderson, according to his mother, Jaime Giger. Henderson police say the crash happened around 7:40 a.m. Monday, and Jude was taken to the hospital before returning home to recover from what officials describe as minor injuries.
The crash has reignited concerns among parents at nearby Neil C. Twitchell Elementary and John C. Vanderburg Elementary, who say crossing guards have become harder to find at key times of day near both campuses. As reported by KLAS 8 News Now, Giger said this is the first year she has seen no crossing guard posted at the intersection near Twitchell Elementary at all.
Giger also raised a separate concern, telling the outlet there is a lack of communication between the schools and the City of Henderson regarding crossing guard coverage. The station reported that the driver involved, a 54-year-old woman, was traveling at a low speed before allegedly striking Jude, remained at the scene, and was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Guard Shifts Don't Match Dismissal Bells, Parents Say
Another parent, Aidan O'Connell, told the station that guards near Paseo Verde and Desert Shadow, close to the Henderson Multigenerational Outdoor Competition Pool, leave their posts at 3:10 p.m. even though his children don't get out of Vanderburg Elementary until 3:26 p.m. That 16-minute gap leaves students crossing without a guard present, O'Connell said.
The City of Henderson contracts its crossing guards through All City Management, and a city spokesperson said the company is responsible for staffing guards at all public Henderson elementary and middle schools, per the same account from 8 News Now. The company, which operates locally as The Crossing Guard Company and is described as the nation's largest private crossing guard provider, typically pays Henderson guards $17.50 an hour for split shifts of about one hour before and one hour after school, according to a job listing reviewed by Breakroom. All City Management had not responded to a request for comment by late Monday night, the station noted.
Twitchell and Vanderburg are among the schools whose families have raised concerns about crossing-guard coverage. Any mismatch between a guard's shift hours and a school's dismissal bell can leave students crossing without a guard present.
School-Zone Safety Remains a Concern
The timing gaps come amid broader school-zone safety discussions, according to the Clark County School District. The district's back-to-school materials also address school-zone safety.
Separately, Nevada Revised Statute 484B.283 requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in marked or unmarked crosswalks, with failure-to-yield violations carrying civil fines up to $500 or criminal reckless driving charges if a collision occurs, according to the Las Vegas Defense Group. Henderson police have enforced traffic safety in and around schools since August 10, per the City of Henderson.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Student Pedestrian Crashes
The Twitchell-area crash comes amid broader concerns about student pedestrian safety across Clark County. The broader discussion has also included crossing-guard coverage at middle schools.
The city has also focused on traffic and pedestrian safety. The city has continued investing in pedestrian infrastructure elsewhere, too.
All City Management Services, which has operated for more than 40 years, provides crossing-guard services, according to the company's own materials. For families near Twitchell and Vanderburg, the open question is whether the City of Henderson and its contractor will align guard shift hours with actual dismissal times — and what happens, if anything, when a designated crossing post goes unmanned.
