Plans for an adult crossing guard program at Barrie schools are finally hitting the ground running.
City council approved a motion Aug. 16 that staff investigate the feasibility of implementing a program in Barrie, including costs and staffing requirements, that staff contact both school boards concerning assistance or partnerships, and report back to council’s general committee.
With school just weeks from beginning in September, the timing is right.
Tannis McCarthy, a secondary school teacher in Bradford with Simcoe-Muskoka Catholic District School Board, has been pushing for an adult crossing guard program since last spring.
She noted city staff will have to look into where the crossing guards will need to be placed and this would have to be done while school is in session. Guards would also need to be hired.
“So I think the timeline kind of makes sense right now,” McCarthy said. “I think the earliest we could possibly hope for is the new year. Hopefully we’re on track for that.”
But that’s not the process that most concerns her.
“My biggest concern, at the moment … is whether the city will take responsibility for the cost and implementation of the program because they’re looking for partnerships,” she said. “While there’s nothing wrong with that, in the past that was used as an excuse not to implement the program.”
In 2015, city council looked at having crossing guards at Barrie’s elementary schools in 2017, at a cost of $650,000. It was not approved.
Aside from the two school boards, McCarthy suggested the city look for a partnership with its Barrie Police Service, although the local police department receives the vast majority of its funding from the city itself.
“I think they (the city) have to take responsibility,” she said of funding the adult crossing guard program. “I don’t have a problem with them looking for partnerships as long as it’s a genuine thing and they’re not looking for an excuse when those partners say no, they then say that they can’t cover the cost of this program.”
McCarthy said the cost to find an adult crossing guard program needs to be put in perspective with city spending.
“They must have reserve funds for the implementation of new programming and regardless of what the cost of this program is, it seems to be on par with other programs that they have put in place,” she said, “so the public needs to understand that between $500,000 and $1 million for this program is not an exorbitant amount, given our overall operating budget.”
The city’s 2023 tax-supported base operating budget has total gross expenditures of $408.1 million and a net property tax levy requirement of $283.1 million for city services and Barrie’s service partners, which includes city police.
McCarthy has said near-misses, increasing traffic, distracted and inexperienced drivers, speeding, congestion at school drop-off/pick-up locations, illegal parking, and poorly placed pedestrian crossing lights are some of the reasons why the adult crossing guard program is needed.
She initiated an online petition last May asking for crossing guards in Barrie to help keep children safe. It gathered 1,119 signatures.
McCarthy has said adult school crossing guards can direct children with more authority than youth crossing guards, have the authority to carry a stop sign, can help report violations that impose fines, can assist in an emergency, and give parents greater confidence.
She has asked the city to implement an adult crossing guard program gradually and increase locations incrementally. It could start with the most essential locations, as warranted by the Ontario Traffic Council’s Crossing Guard Guide. Guards would not be at every elementary school, just where warranted.
The Simcoe County District School Board has 25 elementary schools and five secondary schools in Barrie, while the Simcoe-Muskoka Catholic District School Board has 13 elementary schools and three high schools in the city.
