Naperville to Dist. 203: You pay for crossing guards
Naperville Unit District 203 will have to pay for its own crossing guards.
City councilmen on Tuesday rejected a plea by school officials to continue to pay for the guards.
"We take the matter pretty seriously," school board member Terry Fielden said. "It's a matter of great safety concern to us and to our students."
Superintendent Mark Mitrovich added that the district does not have the authority to levy taxes for crossing guards but the city does. Staffing 10 district intersections costs $85,000 a year.
However, in light of Naperville's own budget troubles, City Manager Doug Krieger said it can't afford to continue to fund the guards. In January, the police department eliminated 10 sworn officer positions as it tried to balance its budget.
Krieger pointed to neighboring Indian Prairie Unit District 204, where crossing guards are part-time employees paid by the district.
Several councilmen who live within the Indian Prairie district said the issue is one of equity.
"It's just not fair for the taxpayers from District 204 to help fund that through their city property taxes," Councilman Judy Brodhead said.
Mitrovich replied that "equity would be to provide guards for all Naperville, including that part of 204 which is in Naperville."
Councilman Jim Boyajian compared the situation with providing bus service.
"We wouldn't even think or consider paying for bus service for busing children to school," he said.
He told school officials they have the option of adding bus routes instead of crossing guards if they so choose, but Fielden said adding buses would cost two to three times more than crossing guards.
Following the council's refusal to fund the crossing guards, Mitrovich said Wednesday he will bring the issue back to the school board March 15 to talk about how to proceed. However, he said it appears there won't be many options other than to take on the cost.
"We have to start digging deeper into the budget," he said. "In a time of constrained resources we're like everybody else. We're going to have to do some reprioritizing and we'll have to find it."