“What do we want?” Teresa Anderson, of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), asked the spirited, standing-room only crowd of over 200 parents, students, educators and community activists.

“Safe Schools,” scores of impassioned voices responded in unison.

“When do we want them?”

“Now!”

The event, a rally held at the Our Lady of Refuge Parish Center in North Fordham, was organized by the Community Collaborative to Improve District 9 and 10 Schools to kick off a petition campaign. The current goal of the Collaborative is to collect 50,000 petition signatures in the hopes of pressuring the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) and the City Council to enact a 15-mile-per-hour speed limit in school areas and to allocate funding for additional speed humps around schools, and crossing guards and police foot patrol at dismissal time. The group hopes to have the signatures collected by mid-March when it will reconvene to discuss strategies for moving forward.

Ocynthia Williams, a parent leader in District 9, heralded the meeting as “a history-making event” and said it was time to expand the organization to include schools throughout the borough.

The Collaborative includes a number of community groups including ACORN, Citizens Advice Bureau, Highbridge Community Life Center, Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council, New Settlement Apartments, and the NWBCCC. The organization has its roots in a project developed a few years ago by New Settlement to address concerns in District 9 schools. District 9 and District 10, both in the west Bronx, comprise Region 1. The Collaborative works closely with the United Federation of Teachers and the city Department of Education.

On an evening in which several parents and educators shared past achievements and present concerns regarding school safety, Ronn Jordan, the president of the NWBCCC’s board, put forth the case to act decisively. Jordan told the audience that being hit by a vehicle was the leading cause of death and injury among New York City kids ages 5 to 9. He stated that the Bronx has the second highest rate of pedestrian injury in the state and cited a string of statistics illustrating that the likelihood of pedestrian death in accidents correlates to the velocity of the vehicle.

“We have a deadly problem that needs to be fixed and needs to be fixed now,” Jordan concluded.

The current focus on traffic dangers is just the first phase of a broader effort aimed at tackling a wide array of safety issues in schools, including gang violence and environmental hazards.

“No issue is more important than the safety of children going to and from school,” said Ray Rosemberg, the deputy superintendent of Region 1. “Your message is going to get out loud and clear tonight.”

Denise Montcreif, a parent, insisted that “numbers are power” and urged members of the audience to not only have friends and family sign the petition, but to offer them petitions to circulate as well.

“Every signature you get on this is an ‘I Love You’ to the children of the Bronx,” she said.