P-Tech High School NJ nurse gets hit by Paterson DPW truck
Video shows a school nurse at Paterson’s P-Tech High School nurse gets hit by a DPW truck on March 30, 2023.
Paul Wood Jr, NorthJersey.com
PATERSON — After a school nurse was struck by a city-owned truck near P-Tech High School three weeks ago, the president of Paterson’s teachers’ union is calling for the construction of a footbridge in the area.
A school security camera video released Thursday showed the nurse, whose name has not been made public, walking north across Ellison Street on March 30 when she was hit by a city pickup truck that was turning left from the southbound lanes of Memorial Drive. The nurse was knocked to the pavement, where she remained facedown and motionless as the driver rushed to try to help her, the video showed.
The nurse was alone when she was hit by the truck. District employees noted that all P-Tech students that day were having classes in Passaic County Community College while their regular building was closed in the aftermath of a nearby fire.
The nurse spent several days in intensive care at a hospital after the accident, said the union president, John McEntee Jr. The nurse was walking across Ellison Street when she was hit by the truck while on her way to PCCC, McEntee said.
The college runs a joint program with P-Tech under which students at the high school walk to PCCC every day, crossing Ellison Street and Memorial Parkway on the way.
McEntee said during Wednesday night’s Board of Education meeting that there were two “close calls” involving P-Tech students on Tuesday, when motorists who he said were speeding along Memorial Drive ran red lights even as school security guards tried to signal to them to stop.
Schools: Paterson offering payments to parents looking to avoid accused bus company
McEntee said the nurse hit by the truck is recuperating and that he was able to speak to her on Tuesday. The union president acknowledged that it may cost millions of dollars to build a footbridge.
“It’s going to take money and it’s going to take politicians to go to folks and say, ‘We have to do something about this,’ ” McEntee said. “We cannot have anyone hit by a car simply because they were trying to get to gym class or to have lunch.”
City officials did not respond to multiple messages seeking information about the incident, in which a public works employee hit the nurse. Mayor Andre Sayegh did not comment on the incident.
“I was not aware of this incident, but there have been many conversations through the years about connecting P-Tech to PCCC,” said the college’s president, Steven Rose. “All of the students use the college facilities every day.
More: This is what the renovated auditorium at Paterson’s School 20 looks like
“While the staff seem to have mastered crossing the students, clearly direct access without crossing the street would be easier,” Rose added. “I know there have been plans developed for a second floor with a bridge over Memorial Drive. I do not know the status. We strongly value our relationship with P-Tech and hope for it to continue to grow.”
Paterson Schools Superintendent Eileen Shafer also supported the call for a footbridge. She described Memorial Drive near the high school as “a speedy” where drivers often go through red lights. Shafer noted that the street is owned by Passaic County government.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
