Introduction to the Tragedy
AUSTIN — Students leaving McNair Elementary School in Austin on Thursday walked by a memorial made of candles and balloons, marking the site where a driver hit and killed one of their classmates, 9-year-old Anakin Perez, that morning.
The Accident
Perez’s family and fellow McNair families are calling on Chicago Public Schools to add more crossing guards and staff outside the school — which has just one crossing guard — to prevent further tragedies. About 7:40 a.m. Thursday, Anakin was crossing the street in front of McNair Elementary, 4820 W. Walton St., when a woman driving westbound hit him, police and family said. Anakin was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigation and Response
The female driver was taken into custody and issued a citation for failure to exercise due care to a pedestrian in the road, police said. The driver has since been released from custody, and the investigation is ongoing, police said Friday.
Community Reaction
Anakin’s family gathered with neighbors to mourn the child at a vigil around school dismissal time Thursday. The fourth-grader was remembered as a friendly, athletic, lovable and very energetic child, said Yesenia Fernandez, Anakin’s aunt and a mother of a first- and fifth-grader at McNair. Community members at the vigil recalled Anakin as a joyful kid who loved coming to their homes to play. Classmates tearfully embraced as they remembered him.
Call for Improved Safety Measures
Parents picking up their children and community leaders said the death could have been prevented with adequate crossing guard and CPS Safe Passage staffing. “The family [of Anakin Perez] feels like more Safe Passage would be good for the community, and I can agree with them on that,” Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) said. “We always can use more Safe Passage workers out here, or crossing guards, something to help look out for the kids as they’re moving in the neighborhood. Every parent can’t be there to walk them home or take them to school. … You want to know that the child gets home safe and is going to school safe.”
A memorial vigil was held for 9-year-old Anakin Perez in front of Ronald E. McNair Elementary School at 4820 W. Walton Street on September 18. Credit: Michael Liptrot/Block Club Chicago
Current Safety Measures
CPS’s Safe Passage program is offered at select schools, providing adults stationed along popular walking routes to schools to monitor students during arrival and dismissal. McNair is not included in the Safe Passage program, according to the program’s website. Parents, family and Mitts said McNair only has one crossing guard — far from the proper staffing for them to consider students safe.
Previous Concerns and Cutbacks
This summer, CPS laid off 161 employees, including many crossing guards, due to budget cuts, Chalkbeat Chicago reported. District leaders also said they would not fill 24 vacant crossing guard positions. Those cutbacks did not impact McNair, according to CPS.
Reaction from CPS
“We are devastated to confirm a student’s tragic death in front of their school,” a district spokesperson said in a statement. “Our hearts are heavy with grief for this child as well as concern and deep sympathy for his family and loved ones.” Parents said safety resources are badly needed near the school.
Community Demands for Change
“It’s a major problem. … We only have a crossing guard,” said Foentana Bobo, a McNair parent of a second-grader. “Why is [there] not a crossing guard right down Cicero and Augusta? They’re main streets that kids walk to school every day. … We definitely need to protect these kids.” Larra Mattix, a McNair parent of a first- and second-grader, said she has brought up her concerns over the lack of crossing guards to the school “on multiple occasions.” School staff directed her to Mitts’ office. Mattix has a meeting scheduled with Mitts’ office on the matter next week, she said.
Ronald E. McNair Elementary School at 4820 W.
