Lack of crossing guards worries school officials
By Shayna Coleon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Makakilo Elementary Principal Gary Chun faced a dilemma.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
The school had no adult crossing guards but he was advised not to allow two educational assistants to help students cross the street because they weren't trained, posing a liability issue.
A Junior Police Officer's sign stops traffic at Kapolei Elementary School. Although many schools have an ample supply of these student crossing guards, more adults are needed to help monitor traffic at school crosswalks.
Chun decided to put his students first. While he waits for a training date to be set, he still sends his two assistants out because an unguarded crosswalk worries him.
"I have to take care of my kids," Chun said. "What it comes down to is we have to take responsibility."
It's the same story every year: There are never enough adult crossing guards to go around.
This year, despite improved pay and streamlined hiring and retention procedures, the Honolulu Police Department finds itself nearly a third short of the 170 adult crossing guards needed at O'ahu elementary schools.
Overall, 50 to 60 trained adult crossing guard positions are unfilled, and the remaining 110 to 120 guards will be distributed among O'ahu elementary schools, said traffic Sgt. Mark Boyce at the Honolulu Police Department, which administers the program.
Interested in being a school crossing guard?
More than half of Maui's positions are unfilled, and a third of Kaua'i's, though that amounts to only four or five people. On the Big Island, six of 40 positions are unfilled.
Guards needed
Boyce blamed the shortage on a lack of interest in the community.
"We are not going to fill these positions unless we get a flood of community support," he said.
The final number of elementary schools lacking crossing guards will not be available until all O'ahu elementary schools open at the end of this month, but Boyce said 158 positions were available last year and 28 went unfilled the entire school year.
The situation forces officials to improvise. Teachers and administrators often stand at the street corners. On Maui, police officers fill in. In Kapolei, Sen. Brian Kanno, D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Makakilo, Kapolei) was so concerned about the shortage of crossing guards at Kapolei Elementary School that he volunteered to fill in until guards are hired. Yesterday was his first day.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
"I don't think people know how dire the situation is," Kanno said. "It's kind of hard to imagine elementary-age children crossing the road with no crossing guard. I think we are aware that there's impatient drivers and people who are speeding, but put that together with little children trying to get to school. I'm very concerned."
Kapolei Elementary School students Tristin Vincent, 10, left, and Rachelle Cortez, 9, cross Kuloa Avenue in a crosswalk near the Kamaaha Avenue intersection.
Kapolei Elementary has had no adult crossing guard since opening July 8 because one moved away and the other decided to work someplace else. Without adult supervision, it prevents even student Junior Police Officers from being used as crossing guards, said Vice Principal Cosmo Arakawa.
"We have JPOs, but without crossing guards, they can't go out," Arakawa said. He suggested higher pay for crossing guards because that "would give them some incentive."
HPD has placed advertisements, raised the hourly wage for a crossing guard from $10.05 to $10.55 and changed the hiring process, but nothing has helped.
With a shortage of school crossing guards, Vincent Llorin, a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator at the state's Department of Transportation, said parents can teach their children these pedestrian safety tips:
In the past, Boyce said crossing guards had to reapply every year because there was "no history kept." HPD hires guards as it would police officers, requiring hearing and vision exams and extensive background checks, a lengthy process.
Safety tips
But now, once hired and trained, crossing guards can return without reapplying.
In Hawai'i, only elementary schools have crossing guards, but Boyce said he would like to see guards at intermediate and high schools where needed.
For example, Kapolei High School has no crosswalk, and students are crossing Kapolei Parkway with vehicles "flying down the street," he said.
Many schools solicit crossing guards by sending fliers home with students.
On the Big Island, Stanley Imaino, program coordinator for school crossing guards and motor vehicle control inspector, said the community strongly supports the 20 elementary schools that need guards, even though they get paid only $9.01 an hour.
Chun said it might help to think about all the children that could possibly get hurt if they cross an unguarded street.
"I know it's difficult for someone to get dressed and come down for one hour in the morning and be back in the afternoon," Chun said. "But we always wait until something happens" before taking action. "That's my concern."
Reach Shayna Coleon at scoleon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8004.
Correction: Student crossing guards operate under the Junior Police Officer program. A photo caption in a previous version of this story gave an incorrect name for the program.
