Fort Mill police take another step to improve school safety and traffic

A new traffic unit will add Fort Mill police officers to improve safety in and around schools.

The town announced the new traffic enforcement officer program this week, the latest in a series of school traffic safety measures since a crossing guard was struck and killed in front of a school two years ago.

Two Fort Mill police officers will be assigned exclusively to school zone traffic enforcement, according to the town. They’ll focus on school drop off and pick up rushes, along with peak traffic events at schools that draw large crowds.

The officers will focus on keeping roads in front of schools clear, reducing traffic backup and crash prevention.

The program isn’t related to the resource officer program, which provides officers on school campuses to promote safety there.

Fort Mill crossing guards hit by cars

Fort Mill schools hired crossing guards who directed traffic for many years.

Former crossing guard Stanley Brucker was struck by a vehicle while working in front of the Fort Mill Middle School and Fort Mill Elementary School complex in March 2024. Brucker died from those injuries, prompting calls for increased school traffic safety.

Seven months after Brucker’s death, a crossing guard was struck by a vehicle in front of Catawba Ridge High School. That guard was injured, but survived.

Paid guards weren’t available for portions of last school year, following those incidents. Last summer, the Fort Mill School District learned just days ahead of school starting that the company they’d used to hire crossing guards wouldn’t be able to provide them.

Police officers have been used at some school site to direct traffic on a temporary basis.

Several schools saw traffic pattern changes, allowing only right turns out of their campuses. Last fall, local and state school traffic partners announced new traffic lights would be installed near Catawba Ridge and Doby’s Bridge Elementary School.

As Fort Mill continues to grow, Mayor Guynn Savage said, it will take cooperation among police, schools and other groups to address traffic near schools.

“The safety of our children is a shared responsibility,” Savage said.