Emergency funds needed to keep crossing guards posted at Victoria schools

Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt is calling for the City of Victoria to approve up to $50,000 in funding to keep the School Crossing Guard Program running until the end of the school year.

In a letter sent to council on Friday, the Greater Victoria Crossing Guard Association (GVCGA) asked for emergency additional funds.

Right now, the association says it only has enough money left from the city to keep the School Crossing Guard Program running until this Friday, Dec. 17. The funds go towards paying the crossing guards seen outside of schools.

The letter from the GVCGA outlines what challenges would come as of Friday without further funding.

"We are not able to determine which intersections to staff with any remaining grant funds and will be returning the unused portion to the city, lacking direction as to priority intersections," reads the letter.

The organization is concerned that, without more funding, they will not be able to pay crossing guards their minimum wage of $15.20 an hour, leaving important crosswalks unattended for the rest of the school year.

"Having an adult present to increase the level of safety for the children, and for other members of the school community is important," says Isitt. "Many of the children, even in lower grades, walk to school on their own."

In response to the association’s letter to the city, Isitt proposes a motion to pull funding from the city's 2021 contingency funds. Any additional money needed to last until the end of June 2022 would be determined by the municipality's chief financial officer and director of engineering and public works.

Right now, Isitt says funding for the crossing guards comes from "a hodge podge – and that really is the problem. They cobble together funds from the city, and from some other municipalities."

Isitt adds that the city gave less money to the Greater Victoria Crossing Guard Association than usual this year, which could have added to the extra strain.

This motion comes less than a week after 16-year-old Kaydence Bourque was struck and killed in a crosswalk at the intersection of Cedar Hill Cross Road and Merriman Drive in Saanich.