First-grader Erin Clyne was escorted by her mother, a crossing guard and the principal at Sunset Hill School as she scampered through a busy four-way stop on her way to class.

It was an unusual safety net for Erin and dozens of other students as they headed to school Wednesday morning on Walk Your Child to School Day, sponsored locally by Douglas County Safe Kids Coalition.

“It’s a good day,” said Tammy Clyne, Erin’s mother. “We’ve been waiting for this for a while.”

Parents and guardians of children at Cordley, Deerfield, East Heights, Hillcrest, New York, Pinckney, Prairie Park, Quail Run, Schwegler, Sunflower and Riverside schools in Lawrence also participated. Schools in Baldwin and Eudora did the same.

As many as 3,000 children at the schools were eligible to join in.

The annual event, started in Chicago five years ago and in Lawrence last year, is designed to teach children and motorists about pedestrian safety.

It’s also a chance for parents to document concerns they have about their child’s daily walk to and from school. Each adult was asked to fill out a safety survey based on what they experienced between home and school.

Karen Henley, the parent of first- and fourth-grade children, walked with them to Quail Run School.

She wasn’t impressed with lack of consideration for pedestrians trying to cross Harvard Road near Quail Run, 1130 Inverness Drive.

“There is no safe way to cross Harvard,” she said. “They need a four-way stop somewhere.”

Brian Pope, who also has first- and fourth-graders at Quail Run, said a three-block section of their route to the school didn’t have a sidewalk.

“We had to walk in the street,” he said. “Fortunately, there’s not a lot of traffic.”

Chris Bay, principal of Sunset Hill School at 901 Schwarz Road, said he was serving as unofficial crossing guard at Kasold Drive and Harvard Road because he wanted to support efforts to raise awareness of student safety.

Morning commuters in a hurry to get to work often drive too fast for the number of children on the streets, he said.

“At Ninth and Schwarz … people fly through there,” he said.

Lawrence Mayor Sue Hack, a retired junior high teacher, greeted parents and children at Quail Run.

“I think our parents take really good care of the kids in terms of giving them help,” she said.

However, Hack said, it was appropriate to annually remind motorists across the city to keep the security of school children in mind.

In the survey conducted of Lawrence parents who participated in the program last year, the primary concern was for safety at intersection crossings and the conduct of drivers in and around school zones.

Other issues raised in the survey were that brick sidewalks in older sections of Lawrence need to be repaired and that more crossing guards ought be hired.

Rick Gammill, the district’s director of transportation, safety and facilities planning, said the introduction of a pay-to-ride bus system in August, which led hundreds of more students to walk to school, hadn’t altered child safety in the district.