City May Privatize for Crossing Guards

The city is considering hiring a private company to provide crossing guards as a way to relieve police officers from having to fill in as substitutes and to possibly save money.

Police Capt. Chuck Babcock, who oversees the program, said cadets or police officers are often called in if a crossing guard fails to show up for work.

When officers substitute as crossing guards, Babcock said, they are pulled from their regular duties and it costs the city more money because they are paid higher wages than crossing guards, who earn about $7 an hour.

If a private company is hired to perform the service, the city will also avoid supervision and insurance costs, Babcock said.

“We’ll get more bang for the buck,” he said.

This fiscal year, the city spent about $51,000 for the crossing guard program, not including costs for supervision or officers filling in for guards. Those costs weren’t available.

In the new budget adopted this week by the City Council, the city set aside $79,000 to privatize the program.

This year, 13 crossing guards were used for street crossing supervision at eight elementary and middle schools.

Crossing guards were posted directly in front of five schools and the remainder worked at or near major intersections near schools.

“It’s important that the kids get to and from school safely, and if they’re using city streets and sidewalks, there’s a certain amount of liability that comes back to the city if we didn’t ensure their safety,” Babcock said.

City officials are preparing to make a request for proposals from interested private contractors, who will be asked to hire the part-time crossing guards.

The city hopes to hire a private company to take over the program for the upcoming school year.

The council will consider the issue in July.