Make more buses available to more students. Lose the criteria of 2 miles from school and implement a criteria of (a) do the streets have sidewalks; (b) are the streets considered to have moderate to heavy traffic; (c) are there sufficient crosswalks & crossing guards on the walking routes to schools. There probably aren't any students walking 2 miles to school, there probably aren't even very many walking a mile, they are all being dropped-off & picked-up - which just adds to all the traffic around the schools at those times of day. They cut the buses & the crossing guards to save money, but you cannot put a price tag on the safety of the children, find the money and do what is right and necessary to keep the kids safe!

You are absolutely right. Driving on Central Street today by the Hansen, I didn't notice any crosswalks except the one crossing over West Street. Other crosswalks are faded and need to be repaired. Drop off and pick up at the Hansen is an absolute nightmare. Rizzi and school committee claim there's no money in the budget for this but I guarantee Rizzi had no problem finding money in the budget for her raise. This was a preventable accident. Shame a 3 year old had to lose her life for people to learn a lesson.

I would like to see a map showing the locations of all the crossing guards, crosswalks, and traffic signals, as well as the numbers of families walking to/from the town's schools. Clearly, central street needs an in depth traffic study in terms of safety measures that need to be taken. I don't know if anything could have prevented this heartbreaking tragedy, not having been a witness to it. But the fact is that pedestrian and vehicle accidents are happening with frightening regularity in town and something needs to change. My heart goes out to all those involved in yesterday's tragedy. I only hope measures will be taken to make sure it does not happen again.

Very cruel to implicate Rizzi when public works and police should be managing pedestrian safety. Wow. Not that this was the case here, but I will say that drivers in Stoughton very often drive around cars stopped at crosswalks, puting pedestrians in danger. Unbelievable. Slow down, people!

Call our state senator Brian Joyce. The more people make noise about this the greater likelihood something will change. Clearly the town is not able to handle safety at the Hansen. Time to go over their heads.

My heart breaks for this family. I can't imagine what they are going through, it's so very, very sad. What I don't understand is that although this little girl was not in a cross walk, the report states that a vehicle stopped to allow them to cross, so why didn't the other driver stop??? If one vehicle stopped they obviously saw people crossing therefore the other driver wasn't paying attention (either distracted, on his cell phone etc.) otherwise he too would have stopped. Surprised no one else is questioning that. Also, I think Shalya's family needs to find themselves a good lawyer and fight this town. The town is at fault for not having a cross guard on a main street, especially where there have been so many very recent articles concerning traffic lights in that area (the state is flipping the bill of $500k to put a light at Knollsbrook, yet many articles suggested a better location would be Island St- which happens to be diagonally across from the Hansen school). That entire area is extremely busy and to not have a cross guard there, what is this town thinking?????? Also where that crosswalk is located is absurd! On the Central/West street line - a very, very dangerous area.

Erin did you know that all of the other schools in town have crossing guards and crosswalks and crossing guards? Rizzi is responsible for the overall safety of the students of Stoughton. Did you know that last year she told Hansen parents, me being one of them, that there was no money in the budget for the safety of the Hansen students? She absolutely has to take responsibility for this. Hope this is a wake up call to her and the school committee who continues to renew her contract. This is just another blunder to add to her long list of blunders.

First, I want to extend my deepest condolences and prayers for the Lutz family. This is a heartbreaking tragedy and Shayla will not be forgotten.

As a school community and a town we now owe it to her to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. That is the busiest street in town and is not one, but 2 elementary schools on it. Yet, there is no stop light, no stop sign, no crossing guard of any kind in front of the Hansen. In my opinion, police crossing guards need to be stationed outside the Hansen at drop off, recess and pickup. The children of this town are more important than anything else we would budget for. End of story.

In addition, money needs to be found to better reinforce the perimeter of the Hansen to ensure that at no time any child can wander down near Central St. Currently there is a woefully inadequate metal gate which is all too easy for small children to scoot under. The road is just too dangerous not to better protect the children from getting near it.

I don't know what we need to do to make those things happen, but as I see it, there is nothing to debate. We as parents and as a town need to step up and get it done.

Did anyone else notice what I discovered today as I drove through Stougton? I found it very interesting traveling through Stoughton today at least 3 crosswalks FRESHLY painted (repainted) bright yellow. Is the town starting to realize that there is a need to highlight crosswalks or is this their tactic to cover themselves to a potential lawsuit? A little late! There are two children who lost their life in the past couple years not to mention the number of other accidents resulting in injuries which are not publicized.

I agree with you Michelle D. Four yrs ago a 4 yr old little girl died crossing the street with her grandfather at the intersection in front of friendly's. They were painting that crosswalk on Friday. The town has other priorities other than school safety and pedestrian safety. The flashing lights at the schools don't mean anything because they are not enforced by the Stoughton PD. This never should have happened again.
My heart and prayers go out to the Klutz family. You have a huge community on your side and willing to give any help necessary. As for Stoughton drivers, and drivers from surrounding towns when you see someone trying to cross the street in Stoughton please let them cross. Chances are you will only lose 20 seconds of your own life. Imagine what they lose if you don't. There used to be courtesy in this world, now everyone has some where to be. Please slow down and be aware of those walking, running, or riding a bike.

I'm sorry to the family in my comment above. I did mean the Lutz family. My phone is very sensitive. I'm sorry for the mistype

To all of you who are wondering what we can do to fix the problem you should call you state senator Brian Joyce. if the State House is bombarded by phone calls they will make a change. There is no point in working with the local government. They have already proved that they are incompetent.

To all of you who wrote in about this issue....,bravo but it takes a community to stick together I know this family and they are gona need all the support they can get after the shock of this terrible accident. I don't live in this town but if I did I would not let this slide under the table as to say....,everyone who lives in this town needs to take action whether it is going above the local government and calling your state representative thats a start. Also the parents and teachers need to take responsibility to see that some action needs to be taken and not just painting crosswalk it it not enough...,two children are now gone cause of this neglect not one but two!!! These families are forever going to have to bear these losses who is going to be next???

Really disgusted with all the finger pointing and accusations I'm reading here. Contrary to several claims above, there are well painted crosswalks at the school. There are also operable flashing lights to slow traffic. Its a fact that often, traffic does not slow down enough or proceed with enough caution and though this is a very dangerous area, reckless and unfocused driving is becoming epidemic and occurring everywhere. Anyone who is familiar with the area knows this is a potentially dangerous road at a schools intersection. Contrary to other claims, there was a crossing guard working at the time of this occurrence. Senator Joyce at el, just appropriated .5 million in funding for a traffic signal not here, but in a low priority Ethel way area, so thank you Senator, but please Laura, it would be incompetent to expect your State Senator to be the go to person on a local issue. Finally, there is NO WAY some of these claims written about Rizzi are even remotely close to fact. I can not believe some of these horrendous, mean, unfounded, inaccurate and inhuman accusations directed to the Superintendent. Horrible accidents like this one are difficult to accept and understand. No doubt we need to find answers and solutions so they are not repeated, but irresponsibly and unfairly blaming various individuals is not the way. Some times accidents are just that. According to the reports to date this is being considered a very tragic accident.

Perhaps the Superintendent, and anyone else who defends the view that safe passage is possible, should take a stroll down Central Street at the start or end of the school day and attempt to cross without fearing for ones life.

The town of Stoughton has a responsibility to its community to provide safe walkways and roads. If that means adding sidewalks, painting crosswalks, employing extra crossing guards and setting up speed traps for the overwhelming number of speeding or downright awful drivers, then so be it. Find a way to do it or we will continue to fall victim to preventable tragedies.

Cheryl, please let me correct you. The crosswalk is indeed in front of the school and also well within the flashing light zone. I can only speculate, but it would be my guess that the walk exists were it is because it bridges two sidewalks. Possibly the crosswalk should be moved west 100 feet or another added, but I suspect they are attempting to discourage crossing at that area as it leads directly to a commercial zone with active driveways and parking, which is also, if not more of a hazard. There are no residences to the north side of Central at this area so it makes sense to position the crossing guard further west at a residential area where sidewalks exist on both sides of the road. Either way, I am absolutely positive there was careful consideration, reasoning and review for the decisions to locate crossings and guards at their present positions and it involved the PD and DPW/Highway departments. Improvements have been sought for this area and hopefully the resolve will be hastened. But I also know there are many complications and no solution is foolproof. Drivers MUST be more attentive.

wow DJ but you are absolutely wrong! The only crosswalk in and around the Hansen School is the ONE crosswalk situated at the very dangerous West St./Central St. curve. You ought to drive by that area again before making inaccurate claims. Furthermore, it's not the DPW or Highway Dept who employees crossing guards, it falls within the school systems budget. You need to get your facts straight.

Route 27 may also be under the auspices of the State, but the Town engineer, SPD, DPW and SSC all weigh in on safety and use issues.

I'm confused. DJ, you say a crossing guard is placed in residential areas and not commercial zones but what happens when there are residences within that commercial zone around a school? Are those families left to fend for themselves when crossing the road? Is the town unaware that there are private residences on Island and Mill Street? Do they know that there is no sidewalk available for any of those residents? Do they expect them to walk 3/4 of a mile on the side of the road that has no sidewalks just so they can get to the crossing guard in the residential area? Maybe they did not do a thorough job when planning the safety measures around the Hansen. They need to take a closer look and make immediate changes. While they do an indepth study, they should place a crossing guard at Central & West because the Lutz family and others will still need to cross the road to bring their Kids to school.

DJ, your 7:33pm post on 9/17 stated and I quote " Contrary to other claims, there was a crossing guard working at the time of this occurrence".

And your 8:51 post on 9/17 stated and I quote: " I am absolutely positive there was careful consideration, reasoning and review for the decisions to locate crossings and guards at their present positions and it involved the PD and DPW/Highway departments"

The above quotes were actually copied and pasted from your very own posts. You need to get your facts straight.

There's NO cross gurad at the Hansen anytime of day. Also, it's the school department who employees the crossing guard, again the DPW and Highway Dept. are not involved in employing school personnel.

You need to reread your own posts.

Michelle, Sorry if I've confused you, but my quotes remain accurate. There was indeed a crossing guard working at the time of the accident. The guard is situated west of the school as Cheryl M has already acknowledged. And as I wrote, I "suspect" the reason for the crossing guard located so far west of the school is to accommodate the residential neighborhood as the vast majority of property across from the school is commercial/industrial with only a handful of homes sporadically situated within. Should a crossing guard also be working the crosswalk at West and Central? I don't know, but clearly the crosswalk at West and Central Streets attempts to cater to those few homes located in the predominately commercial industrial zone. Is the town responsible for accommodating every individual in town and to what extent? There is a well marked crosswalk at this location and it is within the safety lights so I can't imagine why some here cried fowl and negligence on the part of the superintendent. I also read the accident did not occur within the crosswalk and that the child ran out in front of the truck. Two facts that would make most criticisms above, moot.

If there were a crossing guard at the crosswalk at Central/West then that is where they would have crossed and the cars would have been stopped for them to cross safely. Whether she darted ahead or not would be moot because with the cars stopped, she would not have been hit. And I hope the town doesn't pick and choose who they are responsible for accommodating. Safety in a school zone should be a right for every resident. The town needs to make it a priority. Are our children not worth the measly $30/day it would cost to place a guard on duty? 7-8:30 & 2:15-3:15 would accommodate not only Hansen students but OMS & SHS students who are unlucky enough to live in the neighborhoods directly off of Central... It seems like a no-brainier to me.

And let me clarify that while I did say there is a crossing guard on Central for Hansen students, they are stationed about 1/2-3/4 of a mile away from the Hansen and for Island/Mill St. residents to use the service, they'd have to walk w/o a sidewalk on Central St. In order to cross the road safely.

Maybe someone from the town can help me & other parents understand their reasoning for not having a guard at the central/west crosswalk. We are all ears.

I live in FL but lived in Boston for 30 years I read The Stoughton Patch to keep me up dated. Down here when school let's out the 20 mile blinking light is around one before and after the school, and believe me theirs a police car everyday waiting for you to go over 20 to hand out a $350.00 tix. Maybe Mass should think about that.

DJ and Michelle. The two of you going back and forth like children is not doing anything to help this situation. DJ you are obviously related to Rizzi or a member of town who does not want to admit that Stoughton's negligence is a huge part of the blame here. If it is true that every other elementary school has a crossing guard then that is the root of this tragedy - explain to me why a school on Route 27 in a known heavily congested traffic area would not have a crossing guard? I hope the Lutz family sues the crap out of that town and hope the people that were responsible for making the decisions not to have a guard lose their jobs and their sanity.

As a parent and former student of the Hansen, there is no crossing guard ANYWHERE in sight of the Hansen school. The closest crossing guard is at Stones End. As that is a bus stop, I am unsure as to why there is a crossing guard there. If anyone does not believe or refuses to accept this fact, I suggest you take a ride between 8-830am and 230-300pm to the Hansen and count the crossing guards. You will find NONE in sight of the Hansen school. In fact, the town even removed the crossing guard at Central and Pearl where the Junior and High school kids cross that street. Granted they have a light but most kids do not know to walk on a combination of red and yellow lights.

DJ...AT the Hansen School? You would consider a crossing guard stationed 1/2 mile down the road from the school "AT the school"? You can't even SEE the crossing guard at Stone Ends from the Central Street entrance of the Hansen. You are stretching the truth by saying the crossing guard is AT the Hansen. Absurd! There should be one within the flashing yellow lights of the school zone where the crosswalks of Central & West meet or within another area of the flashing lights school zone. End of story!

Vicki, I drive that route daily and I've noted why I believe the schools crossing guard is located near Stone's End. Children cross there. I don't understand why there would not be a guard at West St, but frankly, I never, ever witness any children crossing at that juncture and likely that is the reason no guard is there. The question seems to be this: Do you place a guard at a location that may be used by only a handful of people at best or do you find a more cost effective means to provide adequate safety measures for the masses? Why is individual responsibility not at issue? If there was no crosswalk or warning light in this location I would understand the criticism and no one, me included, is ignoring the need to improve that road from the intersection of Canton and Central Streets all the way west past the school. I think we'd get a lot more accomplished if we took the time and made the effort to review all the details in a civil manner. Perhaps a public forum is in order and could be hosted by the school committee and attended by the relevant department heads and safety personal in a location that could accommodate the interested public?

If this issue was ever put to me for a vote I would vote that the school needs more crossing guards. Now with that said....
Please explain to me exactly what the crossing guard would have done to prevent this accident. From what I have read, the little girl ran away from her mother into the street. Only if the crossing guard was already in the street stopping traffic could this have been avoided. So I fail to see peoples logic in a crossing guard being a cure all.
My prayers are with the families.

Mom and Shayla were waiting across from the Hansen to cross. As I understand it, a car in the lane of traffic closest to them stopped to let them cross. As they started to walk, Shayla broke away. The other lane had not stopped and the truck did not see her as she ran into the path of oncoming traffic. Had a crossing guard been directing them across the street, both lanes of traffic would have been stopped before they started to cross. A crossing guard is not a cure all. Accidents can still happen but with less likelihood. The town needs to make sure they are doing everything they can to create safe passage for students and their families in school zones. I feel Stoughton has failed to do that in regards to the Hansen.

DJ is being truthful when she says that she is not related to Rizzi and does not work in town. DJ is a member of the school committee.

Oh, well that makes a sense - a school committee member trying to defend this situation where it is obvious that the town and the school committee have a responsibility to protect our children and have let us down in the worst way possible. DJ must feel incredibly guilty as he should be because if passes that route everyday as he stated he should have noticed that the area was unsafe and needed attention - don't you think that would have been doing his job as a member of the school committee. And now that a three year old is dead he is trying to make himself feel better that he he didn't anything about it - shame on you DJ.
This is not the type of person I want on the school committee so if people know who he is make sure he does not get re-elected.

Lastly, I was at the funeral today and I did not see any members of the school committee present. Sorry if I am wrong about this but I am pretty sure.
Now the Stoughton PD should be commended on how great they have been to the family - especially Det. Hardy and and Officer Desouza - those two have given the family needed support and comfort - unlike town officials such as DJ.

@mom2qts.......your statement makes no sense. They are called crossing guards because they assist (guard) people crossing the street....when the child ran away they were waiting to cross the street so a crossing guard would have had all traffic stopped - both ways. And maybe the crossing guard in a a bright yellow neon vest would have been more noticeable to the truck driver....drivers don't always stop for other stopped cars as they should but they do stop for crossing guards....which would have probably avoided this tragedy.

And you are the first one to mention cure all?.....there is no cure all to anything in this world but there should have been a much better effort and pro-active plan to avoid this happening in front of an elementary school

A trust fund for the Lutz family has been established at the Stoughton Co-Operative Bank. Donations may be made to The Lutz Family Trust at either of the Stoughton Co-Operative Bank's branches on Park St or mailed to the Lutz Family Trust, c/o Stoughton Co-operative Bank, PO Box 446, Stoughton, MA 02072.

Wendy and Cheryl or who ever you are. Did you not learn that assuming makes an A.S.S. out of U and M.E.? Should I also assume Wendy, that you are the wife of a police officer simply because you commend two good cops when others chastise the force for its inaction in regulating speeding traffic and motor vehicle hazards? Neither of you have a clue who I am, yet claim I'm a SSC member then claim no SCC members attended the service. Do you even care how many fallacies you present in your posts? If you want to know who I am and confirm I am not a member of the group of VOLUNTEERS who spend hundreds of hours serving on our SSC, to help make our schools and community a better place, then please consider yourself invited to the Stoughton Co-operative Bank tomorrow morning. I'll be there just about 9:45 submitting a check to the Lutz Family Trust. Please also feel free to introduce yourselves.

@DJ, @Cheryl M, do you both feel better about yourselves now. Reading your posts from the past few days you both really come off as pompous un-informed citizens. At times I miss my home town but when I read comments like yours I do not. A family is burying their 3 year old daugher and you are arguing town politics. Pathetic. Disgusting.

I was arguing child safety. This tragedy may have been preventable and I think it is important that steps are taken to lessen the chance of it ever happening again. I am a mom of Hansen students and it easily could have been one of my kids. I'm not sure how advocating for child safety comes off as pompous; I do admit I'm uninformed about town politics. I've only posted about what I felt could be done to lessen the likelihood of this type of tragedy recurring.

as @concerned parent stated yesterday, the two of you going back and forth like children does nothing for the situation. The fact of the matter is a child was killed and it really had nothing to do with whethere there was a crosswalk, or a crossing guard. It was a tragic accident. would love to be a fly on the wall should you and @DJ ever meet. agreed with earlier posts that @DJ likely knows a town or school offical though.

after a few posts it didnt really seem like you were arguing child safety anymore...it seemed like you were really letting @DJ get to you. I dont think pompous was the word I was actually looking for....it just seems as though we're forgetting why we're all angry here...focus people

"concerned parent" was not referring to my comments with DJ. And while you are entitled to your opinion, so am I. A crossing guard may have saved Shayla's life. I am not the only person who has stated that.

The last thing my posts were are political. Each of my posts have been written to denounce unfair accusations or respond to a direct question. Blaming innocent people for an accident in my mind, is inexcusable. This is a newspaper and I think it is clear that everyone one posting has only the best intentions for the families involved though I completely agree that the bickering is unhelpful and unnecessary.
For that I apologize.

While you are correct, @Cheryl M in pointing out my error that @concerned parents comment was not aimed directly at your comments with @DJ......my initial point remains the same. The last two sentences of @DJ's last post pretty much sum up the point I was trying to make. So with that, my first (and likely) last venture into "blogging" (or whatever this is) ends. Completely ashamed at myself that I spent part of my evening let all these posts get me riled up.

********EVERYONE THAT CAN SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TO THIS ASAP******
A trust fund for the Lutz family has been established at the Stoughton Co-Operative Bank. Donations may be made to The Lutz Family Trust at either of the Stoughton Co-Operative Bank's branches on Park St or mailed to the Lutz Family Trust, c/o Stoughton Co-operative Bank, PO Box 446, Stoughton, MA 02072.