Wiseburn, Lennox School Crossing Guards Cut : Safety: The county eliminated funding in July, but the action went nearly unnoticed until classes were about to begin.

Terri Halstead and her South Whittier neighbors fought for years to make their streets safer for children walking to school. They won battles to get the county to install traffic signals at three intersections after crosswalk accidents claimed the lives of Halstead’s daughter and a crossing guard.

Now an unanticipated problem threatens to make the streets of this community and many others in Los Angeles County more dangerous than ever. The County Board of Supervisors ended all funding for crosswalk guards in a budget-cutting move in late July that attracted little notice.

The decision will not affect cities, which provide most of the crossing guards. But it does imperil the service at county intersections that lie outside city lines. School districts such as Lennox and Wiseburn, which cover large portions of unincorporated territory, are hit especially hard.

The Wiseburn School District has three elementary schools that serve parts of west Hawthorne and neighborhoods west of Hawthorne. Wiseburn lost funding for two of four crossing guards. The city of Hawthorne pays for the two remaining guards.

The Lennox School District, with five elementary schools and one middle school, serves an unincorporated area north of Hawthorne and parts of south Inglewood. Lennox lost four of six crossing guards. The city of Inglewood provides the other two.

School started Aug. 18 in Lennox.

“I hope and pray that no youngsters are hurt,” Supt. Kenneth L. Moffett said.

In South Whittier, Halstead’s daughter died as a result of a crosswalk accident in October, 1990. The South Whittier School District stands to lose 12 of 13 crossing guards because of the county’s action.

“We buried her on her 5th birthday. I don’t want any other family to go through the turmoil and hurt my family has gone through. I don’t want to go to any more funerals, thank you.”

Halstead and other district officials were particularly critical of the county for approving the funding cut so close to the start of school. Most school systems did not learn the news until they received an Aug. 4 notice from the County Office of Education.

“We should have had time to fight this,” Halstead said. “Nobody had a chance to voice their opinion or say anything.”

Halstead sent petitions to the 34 affected school systems so they could gather signatures to lodge their own protest with the county.

“I’m hoping all hell will break loose and people will stand up for their rights,” she said.

Displeasure over the supervisors’ decision has filtered back to them. The county eliminated the $1.7-million program after the state informed officials that crossing guards were not a required county service.

“It was part of a long laundry list of mandates that the state said we no longer had to do,” said Ollie Blanning, a deputy for Supervisor Mike Antonovich. “We needed those funds in order to do those things we were required to do and keep the hospitals and Sheriff’s Department open.”

Cutting crossing guards was one of many budget cuts. Some county officials have called it an inadvertent mistake.

On Aug. 24, the board passed a motion by Antonovich asking county staffers to discuss sharing costs with area school districts. He has suggested that the county could pick up 20% of the cost with savings from a proposed 8 1/4% salary reduction for county employees.

The supervisors are scheduled to get a progress report on Tuesday. Administrators said last week, however, that they have been unable to locate any funds for crossing guards.

County officials have suggested that school districts bear the obligation of funding crossing guards because schools suffered less from the state budget crunch this year than county governments. School district administrators counter that cities and counties should pay for highway safety measures, whether they be speed-limit signs, traffic signals or crossing guards.

Some school officials said they have little alternative but to pick up the cost.

“My main thinking is the children,” said Faustino J. Ledesma, an administrator for Montebello Unified. The cost of guards “has to be covered by somebody,” he said. “It would mean something else goes. No way could you leave those kids unprotected.”

But other administrators said their districts cannot afford either the service or any legal liability that might be attached.

Los Angeles Unified, which lost funding for 43 crossing guards, is picking up the cost for now, but cannot afford to do so indefinitely, said Bob Ranck, coordinator of school traffic and safety education.

Wiseburn Supt. Don Brann says he can’t imagine having no crossing guards for pupils walking to Juan de Anza Elementary. Many children must cross the intersection of La Cienega Boulevard and 120th Street, which is heavily traveled in the mornings and afternoons by workers commuting to aerospace firms and other companies to the west.

The road crests near La Cienega, making it hard to see cars that often travel well above the speed limit, Brann said.

“The guard was there in the first place because it was needed,” Brann said.

He added that he remembers crosswalk guards from when he attended district schools in the 1950s. The school system would be hard-pressed to assume the $20,000 cost.

“We’re taking a wait-and-see posture,” Brann said. “We are hoping by the time we open they will have corrected this action.”

Wiseburn schools open Sept. 14.

Without the guards, “It won’t be too long into the school year before there’s an accident,” he said. “There’s a lot of traffic out there.”

Community correspondent John Pope contributed to this story.