3 School Districts May Get Crossing-Guard Bill : Budget: Supervisors today might decide against paying for the service at five county sites.

School districts in Ventura, Camarillo and Ojai as well as the city of Thousand Oaks could be forced to pay for crossing guards at five elementary schools if a budget-cutting measure is approved today by the county Board of Supervisors.

The supervisors say the county can no longer afford to spend $33,000 a year to provide crossing-guard service at five intersections in the unincorporated county areas.

The board is expected to approve a resolution at its meeting today ending funding for the guards when school starts this fall. But officials for the city of Thousand Oaks and the school districts say they will consider continuing the crossing guard operations themselves.

The affected sites are Walnut School on Wendy Drive near Thousand Oaks, Montalvo School near Ventura, Camarillo Heights School near Camarillo, and Meiners Oaks School and Mira Monte School in the Ojai Valley.

“Obviously it’s a service we absolutely have to have,” Supt. Andrew C. Smidt of the Ojai Unified School District said. “There is not an alternative where safety is an issue.”

Nevertheless, Joseph Richards, assistant superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District, said he hopes to persuade the county to continue funding the program.

“It’s not a major expenditure from their budget,” Richards said. “We don’t have enough money to fund our responsibility, which is education of kids. We don’t feel it is appropriate for us to take on traffic safety issues. That’s the county’s responsibility.”

Up until this year, the county was required under state code to pay for the crossing-guard service in the unincorporated areas. But a bill approved recently by the state Legislature relieved the county of that responsibility.

Supervisor Maggie Kildee said the county simply cannot afford to continue the crossing guard services. She noted that the state Legislature this year decided to transfer $2.6 billion in property taxes from local governments to the schools.

“The state has taken away our money and given it to the schools,” Kildee said. “It is hard for me to say we should support the schools when we don’t have the money to do the basic things we need to do for the county.”

County Public Works Director Art Goulet, who suggested that the supervisors cut the funding to the program, added: “The bulk of our property tax money now goes to the schools. The schools should bear that burden.”

Thousand Oaks and the three school districts will have to spend about $8,250 annually to continue the services.

“We’re not talking about a lot of money,” said Roy Myers, a Thousand Oaks traffic engineer who administers the crossing guard programs for 20 schools within the city limits. “But the big problem is liability. If we take over the responsibility, we will be operating outside of our jurisdiction. This is something we’ll have to talk over.”

Howard Hamilton, an associate superintendent for the Pleasant Valley School District, said school officials in Camarillo will find a way to come up with the money. “We will have to figure out a plan. The protection of the children is very important to us.”