‘Worrying about safety,’ beloved FPS guard resigns
“I’ve been worrying about not only my safety, but the safety of the parents and students who walk to school every morning,” Browning said, referring to drivers along Campbell Station Road who speed through the school zone.
“The speed limit is supposed to be 25 miles per hour, but I know they are doing 40 to 50 mph. All I have been able to do is wave at traffic and tell them to slow down, but they don’t. I even had two girls who drove by and ‘flipped me off’ after I tried to get them to slow down.
“Our other crossing guard, Ann Page, I know she has been hit by side mirrors,” he continued. “I have had a lot of close calls, but I just decided (the week prior), after one woman decided she was just going to go, even though I had stopped traffic to let our school traffic out (of the school line).
“I screamed and hollered at her, but she and another car just went ahead, and I decided I just couldn’t do it anymore.”
Browning, who has been at FPS for seven of eight years with the school system, said he had spoken with school officials and his own KCS supervisor several times about the need to patrol the school zone and slow down traffic, but didn’t get any tangible support.
“I asked if they could use any old car (Knox County Sheriffs Office) would bring here and put a blue light on it, to see if it would slow them down, but didn’t get any response,” he said.
“It is just really a shame that nothing seems to happen until people get killed.”
Browning also noted he had been fairly recently informed if an accident occurred while he was directing traffic, he could be held liable. “Who could afford that?” he asked.
Numerous FPS parents were devastated with the news and took to social media to report Browning’s impending resignation, along with requests for donations toward a gift card for him.
“He is just a beloved member of our community, and we wanted to do a little something to show him how much he will be missed,” FPS mom Hannah Jessee said. “He walked the car line and not only knew all the kids, but knew the names of their brothers and sisters.
“He is wonderful at what he does and just took it to the next level,” she added. “He loves on our kids and made them feel special. He is just the type of person you want your kids to be around when they are little.
“We were overwhelmed with donations.”
The beloved crossing guard was completely surprised by a handful of Kindergarten students, from Mandy Kincaid’s class, who presented him with the gift card containing more than $1,000 in donations on his final afternoon at FPS.
Additionally, they held tiny stop signs and said in unison, “Stop! Thank you for keeping us safe!”
He posed happily with the group before taking care of the departing students one last time before Thanksgiving break.
Browning, who lives off Pleasant Ridge Road in Northeast Knox County, was retired from Bell South with more than 35 years of service when he decided to work for the school system at the suggestion of his brother-in-law. He said he gladly made the 70-mile trip twice a day, just to help keep the children safe.
“I loved all the children and I loved that school,” Browning said. “I made a lot of sweet friends with parents, teachers and lots and lots of the little kids at the school.
“I could never put a price on any of that,” he added.
“Those children have meant a lot to me over the last eight years, and I feel very honored to have been part of that community for so long.”
