CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- City crews are sprucing up the areas around some Chicago Public Schools before classes resume next month
On Monday, a small army of workers descended on a West Side elementary school for some late summer cleaning.
Workers from several City of Chicago departments and workers from the Cook County Sheriff's Work Alternatives Program arrived at Melody Elementary School in the Garfield Park neighborhood to clear litter from nearby vacant lots, trim trees, repaint crosswalks, and install new street signs.
"We want to make sure the kids particularly in this area are seeing that the Safe Passage route workers are out here," she said. "The areas that we feel there are high instances of crime and there are high levels of work to do - we are doing more of these more concerted blitzes."
Sheehan said the area around Melody Elementary needed serious work, while other schools may not require as much attention.
The end result, she said, is that students and Safe Passage volunteers should feel safer when classes resume Sept. 4.