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Milwaukee Schools adding concrete and fence posts to keep reckless drivers off school lawns

High school senior Rashard Burton believes the concrete barriers will stop drivers who have been seen in videos at other MPS high schools like these driving cars on school property.

The measure is to control out-of-control reckless driving. Rebecca Klopf reports.

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By: Rebecca Klopf

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MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Public Schools kicked off a new plan to make schools and students safer from reckless drivers. This week crews were out at North Division High School placing small concrete barriers on the sidewalk around the front of the building. High school senior Rashard Burton believes the concrete barriers will stop drivers who have been seen in videos at other MPS high schools like these driving cars on school property.

“It will help out from stopping drivers from going on the lawn,” said Burton.

The district installed similar barriers in September at Milwaukee School of Languages after a car driving recklessly nearly hit a student on the school’s lawn. The whole incident was caught on video and sent to TMJ4.

MPS says this is part of a new infrastructure plan that will place 700 concrete bollards around schools this November. On top of that, MPS says it will add fence posts, barricades and cameras at sites considered hotspots for reckless drivers.

“Drivers are crazy nowadays,” said Burton. “People do fly past.”

Alphonzo Jackson, who has lived across the street from North Division High School for 20 years, says those barriers are needed. He even put some on his lawn a few years ago.

Screen Shot 2022-10-27 at 9.36.21 AM.png — Alphonzo Jackson who has lived across the street from North Division High School for 20 years. He installed his own makeshift concrete barriers to protect himself from reckless drivers.

“These are from my Grandma’s house. When my Grandmom redid her front porch, I put them there,” said Jackson.

He says people might see a reckless driver on the school’s lawn once or twice, but he deals with reckless drivers in the North Division neighborhood every day.

Screen Shot 2022-10-27 at 9.36.43 AM.png — Sign outside of Alphonzo Jackson's house who who has lived across the street from North Division High School for 20 year.

“The traffic is so bad. They run the stop signs even though we have four stop signs. They don’t pay attention to them. And they just speed,” said Jackson.

He hopes the city takes a lesson from MPS and extends the barriers into the neighborhoods.

“I want them to put them on all the corners,” said Jackson.

Besides keeping the students protected, people who also use the bus stop at 10th and Center Street outside of North Division High School say they now feel like they have a safe place to stand on what is usually a busy corner.

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