PORT ORCHARD, Wash. -- An observant 10 year old discovered a safety issue by her school that adults had overlooked.

Marissa Montano noticed the flashing lights outside Sidney Glen Elementary School weren't always in sync with school hours. The lights alert drivers to slow down for students.

"It's 8:45 and the lights should be coming on at 8:30, but they just came on right now," she said.

The lights' imprecise schedule forced kids to cross the busy road with no lights.

"They were not protected during that time," Marissa said.

For a class project, Marissa monitored the school zone for 61 days and found flaws. She discovered the lights were working on schedule 54 percent of the times. The 5th grader didn't like the odds.

"It's like wearing a seat belt 54 percent of the time. That doesn't seem very safe," she said.

Marissa contacted KOMO 4 News with one request: "solve the problem."

We contacted Principal Julie Lee and told her the lights went off right after school at 3:07 instead of staying on until 4:00 as scheduled.

"I'm going to get on the phone today," she said.

Lee called the school district and KOMO 4 News alerted the Kitsap County Department of Public Works, which is in charge of operating the lights.

"We'll dispatch somebody today and get them calibrated and operating at the right time," said Douglas Bear with the department.

A crew on Thursday checked the computerized lights in the school zone and found the box was at least ten minutes off schedule. The crew plans to monitor the situation again Friday morning.

Now Marissa can head to school knowing her homework paid off.

"I'm feeling really good," she said.

And chances are, this won't be the last time you'll hear from the 5th grader.

"I want to be president one day so I can make these decisions," she said.

Well, we know she gets the job done.