Crossing Guard Policy Could be Overhauled By Stephen Baxter, Willow Glen Resident, November 14, 2008

San Jose leaders are trying to enlarge the city's crossing guard program and make it more flexible for volunteers, and a committee has been assigned to explore some potential changes. Mayor Chuck Reed and other council members have directed the new Schools/City Collaborative group to come up with ideas to allow more parents to volunteer as crossing guards and increase safety around schools.

School districts typically pay for crossing guards in California, but San Jose is one of a handful of cities that pays for and coordinates a guard program. The system is centralized, and some parents have balked at city officials sending them to schools across town that need guards.

New rules could make it easier for parents to volunteer at their children's school, and it could address training and volunteers who cannot participate every day.

Changes in crossing guard policy have been suggested by Councilmembers Nancy Pyle and Pete Constant.

"Parents tell me all the time that they won't walk their kids to school because it's unsafe," Constant said.

Deputy city manager Norberto Duenas said the group could take six months to a year to craft a new policy, but Constant said a year is too long.

"I don't care who you talk to in each of our 10 districts; people are talking about school traffic. ... This should be one of our top priorities," Constant said.

In Pyle's plan, a new crossing guard program would include information about the health benefits of walking or biking to school and the environmental perks of fewer car trips.

Pedestrian safety around schools became a larger issue in the city in June after a sixth-grader at Hoover Middle School in the Rose Garden neighborhood was struck and killed by a driver about a block from the school.

Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio and others held meetings this summer and the school instituted several changes, including a new street safety class and a new on-campus traffic flow scheme. New city rules also make it easier for parents' groups to buy traffic calming devices for streets near schools.

The school safety subcommittee of the Schools/City Collaborative is expected to take up the crossing guard issue at upcoming meetings. The subcommittee met on Oct. 15 and is scheduled to meet next on Jan. 21 at city hall. For more information, call 408.535.3850.