Safety: Funding for Crossing Guards

I want to make you aware of a serious situation that will directly affect everyone who drives in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

Last year, state legislators dropped the mandate that required cities and counties to fund school crossing guards. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors plans to cut funding of the guards 50% this year and not fund the program at all next year.

This means thousands of school children 5 to 12 years of age will be left unprotected. Picture in your mind a kindergarten child--age 5--trying to cross a busy street. How long before you, a friend or a family member accidentally hits, injures or kills a child in a school crosswalk because there was no crossing guard?

As the mother of a child killed in a crosswalk, I will not sit idly by and let this happen to another family or community.

We cannot let the county put children at the mercy of 5 million automobiles and trucks that travel our streets daily.

I strongly urge everyone to contact the county supervisors and let them know we will not tolerate any action that puts children in danger.

Also, contact your local school board and get involved in one of two petitions. One petition asks the Board of Supervisors to fund crossing guards. The other asks the state to reinstate regulations requiring cities and counties to pay for crossing guards. I realize the supervisors are trying to balance their budget, but they must be sensitive and act responsibly for the safety of our children.

Do not let the supervisors balance their budget by gambling with our children’s lives.

TERRI HALSTEAD Member, South Whittier

School Board