Orange elementary school crossing guards will resume with funding help from county supervisors

The city of Orange will restore crossing guard services at each elementary school within city limits through the end of the school year with financial assistance from the county.

For more than 50 years, the city had funded crossing guards near many Orange elementary and secondary schools. But the City Council decided to nix the program earlier this summer along with many other community services as part of austerity measures to address a longstanding multimillion-dollar structural budget deficit.

But after the school year began, public outcry about the canceling of the crossing guard program led councilmembers to reconsider their decision. They unanimously voted to bring back crossing guards this year through a contractor on Sept. 10 and approved that contract this Tuesday.

The roughly $415,000 agreement with All City Management Services for 16 crossing guards will be paid in various ways.

The city will cover roughly a third of the cost through its general fund with funding that city staff said became available due to the council’s decision to delay cost-of-living adjustments for senior management employees. A one-time appropriation from the city’s traffic safety fund will cover another third of the contract.

The county will cover roughly $123,000 through contributions from the offices of supervisors Vicente Sarmiento and Donald Wagner.