Posted on: Wednesday, September 17, 2003

EDITORIAL
Crossing guards are state's responsibility

Outside Sunset Beach Elementary School, pint-sized students crowd behind a stone wall, waiting for a break in the traffic so they can dash across Kamehameha Highway. Many vehicles speed through the 25-mph zone at a minimum of 40 mph.

Their school is among three dozen that have lost crossing guards to a $1.5 million budget cut at the Honolulu Police Department, which reduced crossing guards from 170 to 115.

When there's no adult to stop the traffic, the kids are on their own. And that's a tragedy in the making.

Luckily for Sunset, it's on the priority list to get a crossing guard one way or another. Other schools are not so fortunate.

Now as we see it, public schools are a state function. Indeed, the crossing guard program used to be operated by the state. But the Legislature shifted that responsibility to HPD, and it's been a struggle, to say the least.

Last year, HPD complained about a dearth of paid professional crossing guards because people just weren't attracted to the job. There were at least 50 openings. After much publicity surrounding the problem, most of the vacancies were filled.

Frankly, we're not surprised that folks aren't eager to act as buffers to traffic on O'ahu. But the alternative is leaving schoolchildren to fend for themselves, which is what happens when 55 crossing guard positions are axed.

By all means, let the Honolulu Police Department run the program, but the Legislature must find the money to rehire the crossing guards. Because as it is, this has all the characteristics of an unfunded mandate.