Chicago pulls crossing guards from private schools

Chicago Public Schools is cutting over 100 crossing guard positions, including 33 primarily serving private schools, in a move drawing scorn from community members who say it puts children at risk.

The intersection of Lincoln, Southport and Wellington in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood has had a crossing guard for decades. However, that will change this school year.

“As long as I remember, there’s always been a crossing guard here,” Frances Kontos, owner of S&G Restaurant, located at the busy intersection, told WGN. “As you can see, this intersection is insane. I don’t understand how they can justify not having a crossing guard here.”

Her grandson will start attending Alphonsus Academy and Center for the Arts this fall, just as CPS cuts the nearby guard position.

Chicago Alderman Matt O’Shea also blasted the change, saying children deserve safety.

“I don’t care if it is public, if it’s private or if it’s a charter school … every single child should be able to walk to school safely,” he said.

“CPS, without communicating with any school leadership in the neighborhood, without any community leaders in the neighborhood, without any elected officials in my neighborhood, shut down 11 crossing guard posts with no plan, no communication.”

Schools may have a difficult time finding volunteer crossing guards on such short notice, O’Shea noted.

“What volunteers are they going to train and put in place in just a few weeks? What liability are they going to take on?” he said. “Because I’m telling you … in a day, in a week, in six months, we’re going to have something terrible happen at one of these many, many school crossings where there’s been a crossing guard.”

The cuts are part of a broader response to a $735 million budget shortfall, the district said. It inherited the crossing guard program from the city in 2021 and had continued funding guards for some private schools.

“Given the gravity of the current budget crisis, CPS can no longer sustain that level of service to non-CPS students, though we still service 35 intersections that support both CPS and a private school,” a CPS spokesman said.

The Rev. Steven Bauer, pastor at St. Alphonsus, said the cuts are forcing schools to find alternatives just days before students return.

“It’s a small sliver of this giant budget that CPS has, and so if they’re looking to trim budgets and cut things, the safety of children is not the place to do it,” Bauer said.

The district has pledged not to remove crossing guards from high-risk intersections near public schools.