SYLMAR : Parents Gather at School to Escort Students

Determined to do all they can to promote safety in their community, particularly while a San Fernando Valley serial child molester remains at large, a group of parents at El Dorado Avenue Elementary School are gathering after school every day to escort children home.

About half a dozen mothers, calling themselves the El Dorado Parent Safety Express, wait outside the school as children are dismissed, holding up signs to indicate the direction they will walk. Dozens of children who used to walk home alone or in small groups now join the larger, chaperoned groups.

Margarita Garcia, who has two daughters attending El Dorado, said parents formed the group after hearing news of the molester before winter break.

“We were very worried,” Garcia said. “Not only for our own children, but for other children too.”

El Dorado Principal Dolores Palacio said the walking escort is just one of several safety measures that were implemented after news of the molester surfaced in November.

She said the school held emergency meetings to inform parents and staff members of the incidents. Teachers spoke to students using a police composite sketch to describe the suspected molester. But since more than half of the students walk home from school every day, she said, the escorts are especially helpful.

“They don’t only make the children feel secure, they have a calming effect on the whole community,” Palacio said.

The serial child molester, who police say has stalked Valley schoolchildren since February--accosting at least 32 youngsters--has not been arrested.

Lt. John Dunkin, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, said that while there have been no reported incidents by the molester since school was dismissed for the two-week winter break on Dec. 17, police have beefed up their presence anyway. “We had reduced the numbers while the kids were out of school, but we have renewed the intensity now that they are back,” he said.

He added that police are continuing their investigation and following a number of leads.

Meanwhile, outside El Dorado, members of the Safety Express said they hope other parents will volunteer to join them even after the suspect is apprehended.

“It’s not just that person,” Garcia said. “There are others out there that can hurt children.”