PRIVATIZE SCHOOL CROSSING GUARDS?
Hampton Roads cities hear new approach to ease burden on police
The retired university campus police officer chuckled to himself when he came across the job listing for a school crossing guard about three years ago. Memories shot through Norman Mack’s mind of the kind women who wore checkered scarves and unique hats and held up signs as they guided him and his classmates to school at St. Helena Elementary in Berkley. “I was just looking for something to do in the beginning and now I love it,” said Mack, while stationed at one of his daily crossing guard assignments at the intersection of Sewells Point and Robin Hood roads in Norfolk.
Mack’s position is overseen by the Norfolk Police Department, which, like many employers, is trying to deal with labor shortages. While the department believes it’s an important role to ensure children get to school safely, staffing and scheduling for civilian crossing guard positions can be a timely administrative burden. The toll of running such operations now has local police departments hearing out a company that says it can take the burden off police to let them focus on other priorities.
That burden of personnel management for crossing guards doesn’t just include scheduling but payroll and myriad other duties that exacerbate already struggling police departments, according to Lt. Michael Felix of the NPD traffic division.
Norfolk’s crossing guards work at least an hour in the mornings and 45 minutes in the afternoon through three staggered shifts, meaning those on the first shift can make it to the third, according to Sgt. Jeff Clifton, who oversees the crossing guard program. He said the schools and police have
“I’ve said this a thousand times, there’s nothing more important to us, not just police, but adults, to make sure little kids get to school safely.”
— Lt. Michael Felix of the NPD traffic division
a good relationship to figure out how best to get kids to school safely based on the road activity, the amount of walkers taking a certain route, bus availability and school start times.
But Clifton said hiring for the positions is difficult; many applicants don’t pan out as they stop responding to emails.
Adam Bryan, founder and CEO, of Connecticut-based Crossing Guard Services, has met with officials from several Hampton Roads cities to pitch a way to keep crossing guards but to reduce the administrative burden on police departments. His company privatizes the job, handling the difficult-to-staff positions.
Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach all met with Bryan to hear more about the proposal, though officials from each city said no commitments have been made.
Bryan said the limited hours available and resulting lack of benefits for crossing guards means there is often limited interest in the positions. But, he said those who take the job often love it, just like Mack.
“Recruiting is a lot of work,” Bryan said.
Several local police departments are making do with the small workforce they have. Norfolk has the most crossing guards, 44 currently working out of 80 positions. Clifton said with the staggered scheduling they’re still able to cover all the needed bases. Chesapeake has 21 staff for 26 positions, while Virginia Beach has 20 guards for 38 school zones.
The trend toward privatization of crossing guard operations to reduce workload on police departments and municipalities in general is reminiscent of other types of municipal security outsourcing, according to Bryan.
His company started in 2022 and now handles crossing guard operations in several states in the Northeast including New Jersey and New York.
An advantage of having all the crossing guards under one regional umbrella would be the ability to pool workers, Bryan said, describing how a crossing guard from one city could be incentivized to fill a shortage in another. Currently, a crossing guard would have to be an employee of each of the three cities to be able to work in all three, according to Bryan.
The biggest change under privatization is the guards become the company’s employees.
“No one loses their job, no one — that’s always the biggest fear and it’s the polar opposite,” Bryan said. “We want everyone to stay.”
He said the company incentivizes current crossing guards to stay and matches the pay rate, keeps the same uniforms, trains applicants to the same standards and handles insurance.
Privatizing operations wouldn’t mean the police departments would be totally hands-off. Norfolk would still have a role in determining where crossing guards are located, Felix said. “I’ve said this a thousand times, there’s nothing more important to us, not just police, but adults, to make sure little kids get to school safely,” Felix said.
In addition to crossing guards, school zones in the region, such as those in Suffolk and in Norfolk, are also getting a new method to cut down on speeding — speed cameras.