County Won’t Fund Crossing Guards

Ventura County supervisors unanimously agreed Tuesday to eliminate funding of crossing-guard programs at five schools.

The supervisors say the county can no longer afford to spend $33,000 annually to provide guards at intersections in the county’s unincorporated areas.

They directed county staff to send letters to school districts in Ojai, Ventura and Camarillo and to the city of Thousand Oaks informing them there will be no funding for the guards when school starts this fall.

Meanwhile, officials for Thousand Oaks and the school districts say they are considering continuing the crossing-guard operations themselves.

The affected locations include: 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.

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