The crossing guard program in Chatham-Kent will continue until at least November, as Chatham-Kent council investigates installing pedestrian crosswalk devices in the community.
North Kent Coun. Joe Faas entered a successful motion on Monday to have $500,000 be made available for the project, although the final cost is not expected to reach that figure.
Staff is investigating and conducting traffic and pedestrian counts at the various spots in C-K, where there is currently a crossing guard in place.
Faas said the cost projections should be known by August.
The school crossing guard program was cut from the Chatham-Kent budget back in February, after a service review was conducted on the program.
As of June 30, the Municipality was set to eliminate all crossing guards in the seven communities where they currently exist: Dresden, Wallaceburg, Blenheim, Chatham, Ridgetown, Tilbury and Wheatley.
At Monday’s meeting, West Kent Coun. Bryon Fluker entered a successful motion to have the crossing guard program remain in place until November, giving more time for installation to take place.
Chatham-Kent staff said in a report released prior to the 2016 budget deliberations, that the crossing guard program was not sustainable due to the vacancies of positions and recruitment challenges.
“The committee considered the impact to those who currently utilize the Adult Crossing Guard services,” Chatham-Kent staff said.
“We anticipate that parents/guardians will secure alternate arrangements to bring/pickup their children to/from school. Examples include; Best Start program, stop lights/signs for crossing, before/after school programs in most schools throughout Chatham-Kent.”
“Liability risks” associated with the program is a primary concern for the Municipality.
“On-going recruitment challenges negatively impact the sustainability of this service, resulting in additional liability risks.”
Eliminating the program will save the Municipality $63,810 annually.
