Five intersections to lose crossing guards next fall

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers PUBLIC SAFETY- Funding for five crossing guards is being withdrawn by the city of Thousand Oaks. There will no longer be school crossing guards at five elementary school crossings in Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park because the locations don't meet the city's criteria for that service.

Cutting the crossing guard services will save the city's general fund about $40,000 a year. The city spends around $285,000 per year for crossing guards at 36 locations, about $7,900 a year per location, said Mark Watkins, public works director.

Service will be discontinued at the following crossings when the school year starts this fall: In Newbury Park at Kimber and Knollwood drives for Cypress Elementary, Reino and Lynn roads for Banyan Elementary, and Wendy Drive and Ruth Avenue for Walnut Elementary; in Thousand Oaks at Janss and Montgomery roads for Glenwood Elementary; and in Westlake at Westlake Boulevard and Bridgegate Street for Westlake Elementary.

According to Watkins, when the city's school crossing guard program started 30 years ago most students walked to school. Today, due to declining enrollments and parents driving their children to school, there are fewer student pedestrians, he said.

The City Council set standards to determine which intersections get crossing guards, and the locations are reviewed periodically. The criteria is determined by how many pedestrians and how many vehicles are at the intersection during before- and after-school crossing times. To qualify for a crossing guard there need to be at least 20 pedestrians and 300 vehicles in an uncontrolled two-way stop or signalized intersection. A four-way stop requires at least 20 pedestrians and 500 vehicles. State standards are less stringent than the city's and require 40 pedestrians.

There were few pedestrians at the intersections that will no longer have crossing guards. When counted, there were from zero to 19 pedestrians noted at the different locations during crossing guard times. Some of the city's intersections that had low pedestrian usage but were on divided roads kept crossing guard service.

"We did not make this decision in a bubble," Watkins said.

A preliminary report of the 2007 crossing guard program was presented to the school district staff in May 2007. \

When that report was distributed to the affected schools, four of them concurred with the loss of crossing guards, according to a city report given to the council by Watkins.

Westlake Elementary School provided feedback indicating that parents weren't in favor of losing the crossing guard and questioning the student pedestrian and vehicle counts, Watkins said in his report. The signalized intersection had 74 vehicles and five pedestrians in the morning and 40 vehicles and three pedestrians in the afternoon during the 2008 count.

On April 16, 2008, the Traffic and Transportation Advisory Commission reviewed the recommendation and voted unanimously in favor of continuing service at 31 locations and discontinuing crossing guards at the five intersections.

"The city prides itself on safety and continues to direct efforts to make sure money is spent effectively toward the right spots and resources," Watkins said.