Community Consolidated Elementary District 21 will continue to work with Wheeling Village Hall to keep crossing guards in front of its schools — but only at five intersections, instead of the current eight.
In a deal the school board approved during its April 21 meeting, District 21 and the Wheeling Police Department will split the cost of crossing guards for morning and afternoon duties, beginning with the 2016-17 year. When they first discussed the matter in March, the board had been alarmed by Village Hall’s request that the district assume all of the liability; the two sides found a work-around by hiring a crossing guard agency, which will take the risk instead.
“I’m glad that we were able to negotiate those out,” board member Phil Pritzker said.
Through the end of this school year, Wheeling will continue its long-standing practice of paying the full cost of staffing crossing guards at eight intersections near the district’s schools. Earlier this school year, Village Hall asked the educators to pick up half the tab, or else lose the crossing guards.
For a district facing several economic challenges —and needing to decide later in the same meeting whether to keep paying for the police officers in its buildings as well —the $35,000 that Wheeling wanted, annually, was a serious consideration.
“I’m philosophically against paying for crossing guards,” board member Jeff Battinus said. “It’s a public-safety issue.”
Nevertheless, the board agreed to foot half the bill. This fall, crossing guards will remain at:
* Wolf Road and Jeffrey Avenue, south of Holmes Middle School
* Highland and Wille avenues, next to Whitman Elementary School
* Merle and Audry lanes, in front of Mark Twain Elementary School
* Cedar Drive and St. Armad Lane, serving Field Elementary
* Schoenbeck and Anthony roads, near Tarkington Elementary School
Three intersections will lose their helpers this fall. The Wheeling police studied vehicle counts at all eight of the guarded corners, and found three with so little traffic that they believed helpers were not needed:
* Scott Street and Anthony Road, in front of Tarkington
* Dundee and Wolf roads, north of Holmes
* Dundee and Schoenbeck roads near Field and London Middle schools —which also have a pedestrian bridge spanning Dundee between them
Board member Staci Allan doubted how Schoenbeck and Dundee could qualify as an unguarded area.
“That is probably one of the most dangerous intersections,” she said.
Mary Werling, District 21’s assistant superintendent for finance, said the reason for the cut was because the pedestrian bridge did its job — the kids use it to walk up and over the street.
“There’s next to zero usage of that crossing guard service,” Werling said.
District 21 faced a similar request from Buffalo Grove, which resulted in the opposite outcome.
More Top Picks Best Diaper Bag Backpacks
In 2013, Buffalo Grove started sending bills for 50 percent of its crossing guards to the three districts that operate in its boundaries; two simply started paying, but District 21 refused. The matter came to a head during the fall of 2015: when Buffalo Grove requested payment of its back bills, the two sides could not work out a compromise. After classes ended in December, Buffalo Grove withdrew its guards, and the district started busing more kids.
The difference between the two cases, several board members said, was that Wheeling was willing to negotiate.
“The manner in which this one has been cultivated has been exemplary,” Pritzker said.
Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer