After two separate instances of students being struck by vehicles on their way to school this September, some parents are calling on the city to bring back crossing guards.

Both students received injuries that were not life threatening, but some worry the next student might not be so lucky. Those concerns dominated an Oct. 29 forum at the Donald Small School gymnasium focused on safety in school zones.

In April 2024, the Bath City Council cut the crossing guard funding because not enough kids were using the crosswalk on High Street and more students ‌were using the bus to get to and from school, according to Bath City Manager Marc Meyers.

Krista Perow, the mother of a 9-year-old Bath student who was struck in a crosswalk Sept. 22, said she wants the crossing guards to be reinstated.

“My kids are the reason I breathe, the reason I get up every morning,” Perow said. “And now, because Bath decided a $6,500 crossing guard line item wasn’t essential, my son lives with PTSD, nightmares and fear of walking to school.”

The second September crash involved a 13-year-old boy on a scooter who collided with a vehicle at Congress Avenue and Lincoln Street on his way to school.

Soon after the vehicle struck Perow’s son at Richardson and High streets, Bowdoin resident John Donovan took it upon himself to volunteer as a crossing guard. He was an unofficial volunteer crossing guard for about two weeks, wearing an orange vest and making eye contact with drivers but not trying to stop vehicles.

State law requires crossing guards to be under the supervision of the police department, as well as receive correct training and background checks if it’s a paid position, said Bath Police Chief Andrew Booth.

Booth told Donovan he couldn’t use hand signals to stop the drivers. However, there wasn’t anything preventing Donovan from standing on the corner to watch traffic or walk across the road with children.

“I didn’t intend on doing it forever; I was just trying to be the fill-in until the city hired back a crossing guard,” Donovan said.

Parents at the meeting asked the city to look into traffic-calming measures that could be implemented quickly.

The Bath Police Department plans to provide educational lessons on safe walking, bike and scooter riding to and from school in partnership with the Bicycle Coalition of Maine at Bath Middle School.

City officials said they would review input from the meeting, while Bath is in the midst of a traffic study led by a consulting firm.

Perow has hired a lawyer but hasn’t said whether she intends to sue the city over her son’s injuries.