City Rejects Request for Crossing Guard

A request to station a school crossing guard at Sapphire Road and Garnet Lane has been rejected by the City Council. Four of the five council members said they would back the plan, however, if Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District would agree to share the cost.

The intersection is near Topaz Elementary School, which is in the Placentia-Yorba Linda district. Residents of the area had asked the district to hire a crossing guard, saying they were concerned about the safety of children who walk to and from Topaz school.

Mayor Chris Norby said he would support hiring a crossing guard if the school district “shares the responsibility. . . . Those are their students, and each one that goes to school is worth a certain amount to them.”

Councilman Don Bankhead said he would rather see a stop sign posted at the intersection. That would be cheaper in the long run, he said, than the $4,000 a year that a crossing guard would be paid.

“If there’s a problem, I would think that we would consider a stop sign,” he said. “To me, that makes more sense.”

The city’s Transportation and Circulation Commission will review the situation and make a recommendation to the council next month.