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Commission hears concerns as staff proposes reducing crossing‑guard coverage from 27 to 18 locations
Summary
Staff told the commission the proposed budget reduces crossing‑guard locations from 27 to 18 to sustain staffing and reduce reliance on full‑time personnel, drawing questions from commissioners and parents about safety and outreach plans.
Staff told the commission that the proposed 2026–27 budget would sustain 18 crossing-guard locations rather than the previous 27 and described the safety and staffing analysis used to select the sites.
City Manager Mike Wazensky said the city conducted point‑in‑time pedestrian and vehicle counts, consulted a traffic engineer, and convened a subcommittee that included council members and police staff to identify the most critical locations. “We did point‑in‑time counts at each of the locations … and our traffic engineer synthesized that data with how many intersections are in play, how many street crossings exist, what are sight lines,” Wazensky said. He added that the city aims to staff guarded locations consistently and avoid frequent fill‑ins by full‑time police officers: "18 helps us budgetarily, but more importantly, it's the number we think we can staff consistently and sustainably without impacting other policing."
Staff acknowledged the change reduces coverage at some schools. A commissioner and a resident who said they live near Jefferson Elementary expressed concern about local impacts on students and urged robust outreach. Wazensky said staff will run a strong communication plan and has held a recent meeting at Jefferson to discuss changes; he said materials and an FAQ will be distributed so families know which locations will be guarded going forward.
What it means: staff framed the change as a staffing‑sustainability decision rather than a simple cost cut. Wazensky said the city has historically funded some crossing-guard locations with one‑time funds and that the proposed reduction reflects an analysis of pedestrian counts, intersection complexity and the ability to maintain consistent staffing without drawing on sworn personnel.
Next steps: staff said outreach will continue and the commission will receive additional materials about the crossing‑guard matrix and location criteria as part of follow‑up budget materials.
