Few children attending Lawrence Catholic School St. John campus use the crosswalk at 13th and Kentucky streets.

As a result, a nearby safety beacon with its flashing yellow lights alerting drivers to maintain a 20 mph speed limit may go away.

“We just don’t meet the minimum requirements for a school zone,” Lawrence Catholic School Principal Pat Newton said.

At least 10 children must use the crosswalk both before and after school to warrant the school zone beacon, she said.

The St. John school is at 1208 Ky., with the beacon just south of the school in the 1300 block of Kentucky.

The matter of the unused crosswalk and beacon has prompted a study by the city’s Public Works Department and a review by the Traffic Safety Commission.

City traffic engineer David Woosley said the Traffic Safety Commission was reviewing all of the school beacons in town. There are about 15, he said. A recommendation by the Traffic Safety Commission already had prompted the Lawrence City Commission to approve removing school zone beacons along Kentucky Street near Cordley School, 1837 Vt., Woosley said.

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“There were no students crossing the street there and some motorists complained it was a speed trap,” he said.

No decisions have been made regarding the school safety beacon near St. John’s.

Newton said she would like to see the beacon moved closer to the school.

Woosley said Public Works employees would begin investigating traffic patterns and the need for the school safety beacon next month.

By then, school will have been in session about a month and traffic patterns will have settled into a normal routine.