High school crossing guards could be eliminated
The Fairfax County Police Department wants to eliminate crossing guards at high schools and replace the use of police officers with crossing guards provided under contract by a private vendor.
That would help with two issues – the high cost of overtime for police officers and the difficulty of recruiting enough crossing guards, Assistant Police Chief Robert Blakley told the Board of Supervisors’ Safety and Security Committee on Feb. 24.
A proposal to eliminate crossing guards for high schools is included in the county’s proposed budget for FY 2027. If that change were implemented, FCPD could reallocate personnel to fill vacancies at middle and elementary schools.
And by expanding the use of contract positions, FCPD would no longer have to assign patrol officers to fill vacant crossing guard positions.
Those changes would save the county nearly $1.9 million in 2027, according to Blakley. In FY 2025, the county spent nearly $3.99 million for crossing guards, including $1.52 million in overtime pay.
Currently, just 44 of 62 crossing guard positions are filled by police officers, Blakley said, and they are covering 184 crossing times in the morning and afternoon.
A private vendor (All City Management Services) is covering 68 crossing times under a pilot program launched by FCPD in August 2025.
Sounds good to me. High schoolers should be able to navigate a crosswalk. No need to pay ridiculous OT rates for officers to act as the remaining crossing guards either.
Okay, but let’s ensure draconian punishment for any crossing guard that neglects their duty! And I mean far more than just cancelling a contract.
I say this while recalling in the early 60s I was one of many student “safety patrols” in my McKinley Road (Arlington County) elementary school. My memory tells me the only police crossing guards were on the main road but all of the back streets were a bunch of pre-teens. I can’t even imagine a parent agreeing to that!