The Delta school board is proposing the City of Delta fund the school district’s crossing guard program at a total cost of almost $115,000 for the next school year.
The board of education recently approved a staff recommendation to endorse the latest plan for service, which will also require city council approval.
Proposing 28 morning and afternoon crossing guards at 19 locations for the 2022/23 school year, the latest plan would see an increase for both times of the day.
The city provided the school district $111,125 to support the program in 2021/22.
The crossing guard program is reviewed each spring and submitted to the city’s Transportation and Technical Committee for its review and potential modifications.
A proposed program for the upcoming year is subsequently presented to the school board and Delta council for their consideration.
In the spring of 1999, parents rallied against the school board’s decision to cut the district’s crossing guard program due to a $1.7-million budget shortfall. The crossing guard portion of the budget at the time was $107,000.
A Delta council meeting that spring saw a large number of irate parents show up asking for the municipality to pick up the tab for the safety of their children.
A deal was then struck between Delta and the school board that saw the municipality pick up that cost in exchange for Delta receiving enhanced use of school playing fields. The municipality would also provide a higher level of maintenance to some of the school fields to allow for increased usage and bring them up to municipal standards.
The memorandum of understanding saw Delta assume funding beginning in the fall of 1999 and the annual cost since then has been in the $100,000 range.
