Thursday, February 15, 2007 Older Editions

St. Augustine crossing guards return - for now. But what about next year?

By April Guilmet

The crossing guards at St. Augustine School have returned for now, but it remains unclear if they will return this fall, when the new school year begins, School Committee Chairman Tony James said Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the School Committee agreed to pay for crossing guards at the private parochial school, committing to $7,000 for two guards for the remainder of the school year. While the School Committee had paid for the guards in previous years, it originally cut the cost from this year's budget, sparking a legal dispute between the School Committee and church parishioners. Some residents threatened them with a federal discrimination lawsuit.

"The party agreement was that we would reinstate them [the crossing guards] this year and put them in the preliminary budget for next year," James said.

He added that the School Committee is now in the process of developing a districtwide policy regarding the deployment of crossing guards - for public and private schools alike.

"We will evaluate all the current locations of crossing guards against that policy to decide if they continue to qualify," James said.

He hopes to address the topic at several School Committee meetings within the coming months, but does not have specific dates yet.

"But given all the pressure we have right now with budget meetings and sessions, I'm not sure when we can schedule those reviews," James said, while emphasizing the importance of community feedback.

Superintendent Claudia Bach has said the district has difficulty hiring crossing guards in general, due to the positions' hours and salary.

"We have an opening right now at another school, where there's no current coverage," Bach said. "So right now, we've put St. Augustine's needs first."

School business administrator Evan Katz said the district was currently low on substitute crossing guards as well.

According to a preliminary school budget for the 2007-08 school year, two of the district's 21 crossing guard positions are slated to work at St. Augustine School. In total, around $158,000 will be needed to provide crossing guards (including management and substitutes) for 10 schools. There are no crossing guards at Shawsheen School, a magnet school for kindergarten to grade two students.