Manuel Romero couldn't figure out why so many drivers were easing up on the pedal in the Wood Gormley Elementary School zone last week.

"I noticed they were all slowing down, and that's really strange," said Romero, a foreman for the City of Santa Fe's crossing-guard program.

"Then I looked down the street and saw there was a cop in his car with his lights flashing, and I thought, 'Oh, so that's why they're slowing down!' "

A research poll conducted by Safe Kids USA (a nonprofit that works to offset childhood injuries by advocating safety measures) found that 65 percent of all vehicles within some 60 school zones moved at least 10 mph over the posted speed limit.

Romero said Santa Fe has 38 crossing guards working to alleviate that problem.

"I like being of service to the community," he said. "And the best thing is getting to know the kids and their parents. Even now the parents — who used to be the kids — recognize me. Let's say I go to Fiestas downtown; I'll run into those kids who are now full grown and they'll say, 'Hey, Mr. Romero, how are you?' "

Ben Salazar, who has spent seven years working as a crossing guard at E.J. Martinez school, feels the same way, though he notices fewer children walking to school these days.

"Maybe more families are moving out of the area," he said.

Salazar first acted as a crossing guard when he was a janitor for Santa Fe Public Schools back in the 1980s, he said.

"Not much has changed," he noted. "It's all pretty much the same, except there's more traffic."

And adults behind the wheel can lose their patience, both Romero and Salazar noted.

"You always have someone who is upset because you stopped them," Romero said. "But hey, that's part of my job — and their job too."

Santa Fe Public Schools has a number of construction projects in place as it continues to renovate aging campuses around town. Last week the district's Citizens Review Committee discovered it had about $21 million in general operating bond savings to work with before the next bond cycle (that savings is left over from the $160 million bond issue that voters approved early last year.) But $6 million of that is already earmarked toward Aspen Community Magnet School, which opens Sept. 7.

While the district grapples with both limited funds and pressing construction needs, consider this: Los Angeles Unified School District is about to open the most expensive public school ever.

The Robert F. Kennedy Community School (located at the site of the old Ambassador Hotel where the Democratic presidential contender was killed in 1968), a K-12 with 4,200 students, cost $578 million. The school is being touted as an artistic shrine to education and includes murals, a swimming pool, a public park and other amenities.

Still, Ben Austin, executive director of the California-based advocacy group Parent Revolution, recently told The Associated Press, "New buildings are nice, but when they're run by the same people who've given us a 50 percent dropout rate, they're a big waste of taxpayer money."

That district is facing a financial shortfall of about $640 million, by the way, and the original construction estimate for that school was $400 million.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com