MARSHALL — With the spring season’s arrival and warm weather making its way back into the forecast, outside activity will become more apparent, including students making their way to and from school.

School and law enforcement are urging drivers to remain vigilant on the roads, especially when passing by a school zone.

“It is important, the awareness of people coming into those school zones or those speed zones,” Marshall Police Chief Jim Marshall said. “Spring, you start to have more pedestrians out and you start to have children on bikes going to school … I always encourage people to be mindful and again, safety is our primary objective here.”

Lifetime Marshall resident and former Marshall Public Schools crossing guard Russ Labat approached the Marshall School Board at the March 17 meeting to reaffirm the importance of being aware on the road when driving around schools.

“I bring it up now, because spring is coming right around the corner,” Labat said. “The kids in the middle school, when they get on their bikes, they don’t necessarily come down to C Street, or don’t go down to Southview, Saratoga or James … They will cross right in the middle of the street … I see it every day.”

According to the Marshall Police Department, in 2024 between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 58 total speeding citations were issued in town. Two of which were cited for school zone speeding, however the official number for how many tickets given out for driving over the limit in a school zone could be larger.

“It depends on how they were coded … There were two (citations) that were specific to school zones and speeding in a school zone. It doesn’t mean that the others (of the total 58) weren’t (in a school zone). It all depends on how the officers wrote them and under what statute,” Marshall said. “Sometimes, it depends on where that individual was stopped. So, you may have saw them in the school zone, and may have stopped them a few blocks away. That’s where it’s going to show up in terms of the location of the stop.”

In effort to help maintain speeds around schools, Marshall has enforced more pedestrian and change of speed signs the past few years around schools.

“That’s the one thing we’ve worked hard over the years, is in our school zone, the improvement of signage,” he said. “Our engineering office really takes a hard look at that … We’ve put in those, they’re called RRFPs (Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons). I think that’s made a huge difference in terms of speeds. Now, is there still room for improvement? Absolutely, for sure. But that’s been a great investment that’s been made by all the schools so far.”

Labat also acknowledged the good use of the improved signage, which often reveals when people are driving over. Marshall has RRFPs by the middle school and elementary schools that specifically lower the speed down to 20 miles per hour, and has an electronic sign that shows a car’s speed driving past.

“I can see that sign flashing from my point (during crossing guard duties),” Labat said. “When I look down there and that sign is flashing, it’s 27, 28, 30, 31 (miles per hour) … I’m just saying, you’ve got to be aware of it.”

There’s also signage around the other schools in Marshall.

“There’s one by True Light Christian School, there’s one by Park side School down Lyon Street, there’s one on Southview, and there’s one on Saratoga,” Marshall said. “(On Highway) 23 by the high school, there’s also a 35 mile an hour zone.”

According to the 2024 Minnesota Statute policy 169.14, “Such school speed limits shall be in effect when children are present, going to or leaving school during opening or closing hours or during school recess periods. The school speed limit shall not be lower than 15 miles per hour and shall not be more than 30 miles per hour below the established speed limit on an affected street or highway.”

Also according to the Marshall Police Department, there have been 46 school bus stop arm violations reported throughout 2024.

Marshall said that bus stop arm violations are when a vehicle continues to drive past a bus while actively letting students on or off, with the stop sign arm pointed out.

A common factor that both Labat and Marshall detailed that drivers should be extra cautious about is the time change, which allows the sun to rise earlier and can offer difficulty seeing.

“With our time change, the sun is in a different place than what we’re used to. Early in the morning, it’s easy to be blinded by the sun. I actually noticed it this morning, I went a different route,” Marshall said. “It’s like when that angle hits you a little bit differently, it’s harder to see kids on bikes and people crossing streets. It’s an adjustment for everybody come spring time.”

According to a Minnesota Department of Public Safety study that was done May 1 through Sept. 2, 2024, law enforcement from 259 agencies across the state of Minnesota cited 68,723 speeding violations.

“The staggering fact that over 68,000 speeding tickets were issued over four months, and that’s only the people who were caught, highlights the severity of the issue. We must prioritize safety over speed,” Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson said in the report.

The Marshall Police Department and school district have plans to continue working with one another to ensure the safety of students traveling to and from school grounds.

“We’re going to, in the next week, meet again with the school district. Obviously, we work with school resource officers, so we always stay in touch with them on a regular basis. But, we’re going to set up meetings to address this issue specifically,” Marshall said. “It might result in added enforcement, [or increased speeding ticket fines]. We just need everybody to pay close attention.”

Labat also mentioned that during his time managing the crosswalks, “I’ve never met so many polite kids in my entire life. That’s a compliment to the teachers, to you folks and everything.”

“It takes all of our community members to work together,” Marshall said. “Safety of our children is our number one priority. Always has been, always will be.”