Police may have to pick up the slack for Trenton Public Schools if 30 crossing guard positions aren't filled in less than two weeks, school officials and authorities say.
The district's typical 70-person crossing guard force now lists just 40 members less than two weeks before classes are set to start again, according to school officials. School and city leaders have noted the difficulty of getting crossing guards back on the job since the COVID-19 pandemic moved students online.
Capt. Nelson Cartagena of the Trenton Police Department told NBC10 that, if an officer is needed to fill one of the mandatory crossing guard positions, “that will happen.” But it’s not an ideal move when Trenton police are still down around 100 officers on the force, Cartagena said.
“It’s a potential hazard because the services for police are cut down when that happens,” Cartagena added.
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Police “street teams” have been assigned to certain schools with a denser student body in high-trafficked areas, such as Jefferson Elementary School, Kilmer Middle School, Ninth Grade Academy, Daylight/Twilight Alternative School and Trenton Senior High.
“Our children are crossing hazardous areas sometimes with drivers trying to get to and from work and home,” Dr. James Earle, Superintendent of Schools for Trenton Public Schools, told NBC10.”
The diminishing count of crossing guards is also a concern for grandmother Annette Vincent-Small.
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“You hear things … rumors or not, kids being snatched off city streets,” Vincent-Small told NBC10. “I’m concerned about the crossing guard issue.”
The grandmother told NBC10 that all drivers around Trenton need to slow down, and parents may need to put in extra effort to increase safety during the crossing guard shortage.
“I grew up in the era where parents that didn’t work would stand out on the corners while we walked to school,” she said.
To apply to be a crossing guard, you must be 18 years old, have proof of a valid driver's license, live in Trenton and pass a criminal background check, as well as work a 20-hour split-schedule week.
Trenton is also poised to introduce an ordinance this week to increase the pay from $18 to $25 an hour.
But to some, pay isn’t the only motivator.
“Those kids are my babies,” 19-year-old crossing guard Tiesha Haggans told NBC10. “It’s not really about the money, it’s about [the] safety of our kids.”
