“Dancing Traffic Agent” Kathy Ballwig Holick said she tried to convey everything was fine after social networks exploded with negative posts from friends, followers, and fans — even some comparing Newtown to the fictional community in Footloose, where dancing is illegal.

This was after a Newtown Police Department supervisor instructed her to stop her routine following one particularly irate complaint alleging her dance moves distracted another passing driver while children were crossing the street at Ms Holick’s Hawley School post May 8.

But that police official said Ms Holick is being allowed to “bop and weave” again, albeit with a few minor modifications.

Ms Holick has quickly become a local fixture with a popular “Newtown’s Smiling Traffic Agent” Facebook page. But she has also attracted several complaints during her tenure, primarily for distracting movements or confusing hand signals, according to supervising Sergeant Aaron Bahamonde.

On May 14 Ms Holick posted on her social network site that she had not been dancing while on duty since a complaining caller stated the caller was “concerned of people being distracted and the chance of an accident.” Since that post, Ms Holick received dozens of comments reacting to the situation.

Identifying himself as a former state police captain, Francis Bresson wrote that Ms Holick is “a breath of fresh air,” saying she excels as a traffic agent. “Some police officers can take lessons from you,” Mr Bresson added. “Your directions are excellent and understood by the motoring public.”

Another follower and a former MTM driver, Donna Grasso Colaiacomo posted that Ms Holick “always put a smile on my face and made my day … you always keep traffic moving and put smiles on many faces.”

Countless others wrote of their children smiling and waving at the traffic agent any time Ms Holick was seen.

Ms Holick said after reactions to her initial Facebook post went viral locally, “I kept trying to diffuse it.”

“It’s not the town’s fault, and the police department has always been behind me — they support me 100 percent,” she said.

After a couple of conversations this week with Sgt Bahamonde, Ms Holick has been cleared to dance again, while restricting her routine to select times when there is no traffic movement around or through her official posts at local schools.

Once she has stopped all crossing traffic, she will be able to perform a modified dance routine for the enjoyment of passing buses and vehicles entering or exiting school grounds, Sgt Bahamonde said.

A Matter Of Safety

Sgt Bahamonde said this week that while Ms Holick has been the subject of occasional complaints about her sometimes highly enthusiastic gyrations while directing traffic, the irate call filed on May 8 prompted a discussion about when and how much dancing on duty would be appropriate to ensure public safety while continuing to bring smiles to most passersby’s faces.

The emergency call, which was played for The Bee, was from an apparently angry, unidentified female. Shouting, “She really needs to go,” the caller said it appeared some vehicles were passing through the school zone in an unsafe manner because of Ms Holick’s confusing directives that might have been part of her routine.

“She was concerned because her 16-year-old almost got hit when the crossing guard was not paying attention,” Sgt Bahamonde said. “We take all complaint calls about our officers and agents very seriously, and we need to be sure they are all doing their proper job. It’s hard to justify why someone is dancing when they have the lives of children crossing and school buses in their hands.”

At the same time, the sergeant praised Ms Holick, saying “her enthusiasm is second to none.”

He said, however, that the “town has been put on notice,” and admitted that in the areas of Hawley School, St Rose of Lima School (and church, where Ms Holick also serves as a traffic agent for some services), and the high school, traffic is often “barreling down” the main roads. Ms Holick, he said, was brought in to discuss the situation as a matter of administrative necessity.

In her defense, Ms Holick said she told her supervisors that she has never strayed from her original training, which is to control and observe any intersection or crosswalk where she is posted — especially when there are children or other pedestrians in the mix.

“I was concerned about the complaint because I don’t dance when children or anyone is crossing,” she said. “That’s the way I was trained, and I follow that training every day.”

Sgt Bahamonde and Ms Holick were able to reach a compromise earlier this week.

“We had a conversation, reached a compromise and she was 100 percent receptive,” Sgt Bahamonde said. “Once crossing traffic is fully controlled, she will be able to weave and bop for the school buses and exiting traffic. We’ll meet our safety requirements while allowing the kids on the buses to still see her dancing.”

Ms Holick said she was ultimately gratified to see how many people truly appreciate her unique style of mixing a few happy moves and a broad smile with her traffic control responsibilities.

“It’s obvious that people appreciate it,” she said.

“She’s doing a great job, but safety is most important,” Sgt Bahamonde added. “We do appreciate how for most people she improves the community’s quality of life.”