Crossing Guard Coverage Options In Fairfax County Presented To Board After Pushback

VIENNA, VA — After pushback on eliminating crossing guard coverage in the Town of Vienna, Fairfax County Police presented options for the program to a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors committee Tuesday.

The police department's recommended option was presented at the board's 3 p.m. Safety and Security Committee meeting was privatizing the school crossing guard program under Fairfax County Public Schools. The presentation noted the estimated cost could be $700,000 to $1 million each year, although funding could be explored through the school bus stop arm enforcement program expected to start in fall 2024.

Other suggested alternatives are working with FCPS on staffing solutions when crossing guards are not available, or keeping the program with the police department. The police presentation said keeping the responsibility with the police department could justify the county allocating more funds for crossing guards, completing a pay study, and adjusting school crossing eligibility with possible elimination of most middle and high school crossings. The option of working with FCPS could include reassessing bus routes and walking routes to reduce school crossings.

The Board of Supervisors did not make a decision at the committee meeting. Bob Blakley, assistant police chief for Fairfax County Police, confirmed no changes would take place for the new school year.

"The couple little changes that we recommended at the during last school year was really just maintenance of our current program, but we held off on that, and our 52 guards are there," said Blakley. "Our police officers are in place. We're ready for the school year to start, and we'll be at every crossing we were at last year."

Patch first reported the crossing guard coverage issue when it came up at a Vienna Town Council meeting in March. Fairfax County Police informed Vienna Police in December that it would no longer staff nine Vienna locations at the start of the 2024-2025 school year. This includes two crossing guard locations at Cunningham Park Elementary, two at Louise Archer Elementary, two at Marshall Road Elementary, two at Vienna Elementary and one at Thoreau Middle School. The county has pointed to budget and crossing guard staffing challenges as reasons for the changes.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who represents the Town of Vienna on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, had presented a board matter in April requesting Fairfax County Police pause the proposed crossing guard elimination and propose alternatives.

Fairfax County Police already transitioned crossing guard responsibilities at one crossing in the Town of Herndon and one on Fort Belvoir, as Herndon and Fort Belvoir agreed to cover their crossings. But in Vienna, the police chief indicated the police department didn't have the staffing to cover school crossings and would impact officers responding to other calls. Fairfax County Police pointed to a similar challenge of using its patrol officers to cover school crossings.

According to Tuesday's presentation to the Board of Supervisors committee, Fairfax County Police cover 164 crossing locations. That equates to 328 school crossings between a.m. and p.m. times. However, the police department only has 52 crossing guards covering 240 school crossings each day. Patrol officers — about 88 per day — help cover gaps in crossing guard coverage. The county presentation noted crossing guard retention and recruitment challenges, as well as an insufficient number of crossing guard positions, forcing police to use patrol officers for coverage.

"Another thing about this program is officers are not allowed to leave for any reason," said Blakley, who had served as a crossing guard in Springfield decades ago. "I have been two blocks away from violent crimes and progress, and I cannot leave a school crossing once we take it. And that's policy based."

Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said if the county goes with the privatization option, it should go to FCPS with a "well thought out, principled solution to this problem that benefits the community." He also wants to take a holistic approach to look at gaps in infrastructure that may generate a need for a school crossing guard.

"I can think of a handful of schools off the top of my head that are missing a sidewalk segment that prevents kids from walking to school," said McKay. "There's an immediate problem for police, but there's also some holistic things here. I've talked to some of the crossing guards, and they tell me a lot of times they're protecting the kids walking from school from the parents driving their kids to school. So we have this phenomenon where a ton of people go into kiss and ride lines that are causing confusion and problems at these intersections, too."

There was no unanimous support for privatizing the school crossing guard program at Tuesday's committee meeting. Supervisors suggested a few options to explore, such as using police cadets and establishing community safety officers for traffic enforcement like D.C. is doing. Before the matter moves forward, County Executive Bryan Hill indicated he wanted to add the school crossing guard to the topics of discussions he is planning to have with the FCPS superintendent.