By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
NORTHFIELD — Northfield Community School’s plan for two half-day sessions four days a week has created an unforeseen safety and financial issue.
The police department, which oversees and pays the crossing guards, simply does not have enough guards to cover the extra shifts nor the money to pay them.
Board of Education President Debbie Levitt said Friday the district and city were still working on a resolution to the problem but that the students’ return to school is not in jeopardy.
“We are opening on Sept. 8,” she said.
The plan approved Aug. 6 by the school board calls for students to attend school four half-day sessions each week with a full virtual day Friday. There will be a morning session (9 a.m. to noon for the elementary school and 8 to 11 a.m. for grades 5-8) and an afternoon session (1 to 4 p.m. for elementary and noon to 3 p.m. for middle school). This creates a need for more crossing guard hours, which in turn creates a need for more money.
Councilman Brian Smith, liaison to the Board of Education, said the schedule requires five and a half hours each school day for every one of the 13 stations around the city, instead of the two hours five days a week — one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In addition, the arrival and dismissal times are staggered by an hour for the elementary and middle schools.
So instead of 10 hours a week per station, the need is for 22 hours per station.
Smith said this creates an issue not only with availability but also with funding. He said there are 13 permanent guards and three substitutes, and the city estimates it will need $120,000 to $132,000 more to pay for the extra hours.
“The city doesn’t have $132,000 lying around,” he said. “That’s an extreme cost. We’ve committed to what we have done in the past but have not budgeted for an extra 3.5 hours a day.”
In addition, the crossing guards are union employees who work under a contract, so cannot be required to work the extra hours.
“They are union and there are conditions in their contract. They had two hours a day that they were committed to,” Smith said, noting that many have other responsibilities such as other jobs, child care and whatnot.
Smith said the police department posted a message on its Facebook page requesting applications for crossing guards and the city is working to fill the need.
“Staffing is an issue and we may not be able to meet the extended schedule,” Smith said.
A history teacher at Mainland Regional High School with children of his own, Smith is aware of the need for crossing guards.
“We are concerned about safety for kids and having it covered,” he said. “That’s our foremost concern and we need a resolution. We were not involved but we have to help come up with a solution.”
Following a Board of Education meeting Aug. 24, Michael Joseph posted this message on the Northfield NJ Lounge Facebook page, a closed group with more than 1,500 members, including this reporter who lives in the city.
“For those who did not attend the board meeting tonight, you should be aware that our school is at jeopardy for re-opening due to the lack of CROSSING GUARDS. The city was aware since August 6th that they needed to hire new crossing guards and took no action until today when they posted the position. The Mayor and City council had every excuse in the book. FYI …the next City council meeting is Tuesday, September 1st. Hope to see you there!”
Smith called that “an alarmist statement,” saying all interested parties are working toward a solution. He also took umbrage with casting blame on City Council, since, he said, it was the city that notified the school board that there was an issue with crossing guard coverage.
“I would not agree with that. That is a mischaracterization,” Smith said. “We received the plan at the same time as the public. We did not receive an advanced copy. The city was in no way involved, we weren’t asked to be involved. When the plan was presented, the police chief recognized that the new schedule would create an issue with crossing guards and we had a meeting that week. The school didn’t recognize there was an issue but the city did and sent a letter pointing out how this would create an issue regarding crossing guards.
“We received it Aug. 6. To say we weren’t prompt is unfair,” Smith said. “But we are committed to coming to a resolution so we can move forward.”
Others commenting include Charlie Brandt — “With this new schedule – I assume many more kids will be needing to ride/walk to school. This is unacceptable.” — and Valerie Michelle — “That’s ridiculous.”
Others were more circumspect.
“To be fair to the school administration, it was not stated that school would not reopen because of the crossing guard issue. There is a shortage of crossing guards and there will need to be additional resources to compensate for the additional 3.5 hours per day for the 4 days,” Mary Miller Foltz wrote.
“At the last city council meeting they said they were not made aware of the split session idea. The school made the decision without the input of the city.
They didn’t take into consideration the crossing guards, the cost associated with extra hours because that money comes from the city and not the school,” Eric Leeds wrote.
Board of Education member Kerrie Donovan Marrone wrote in response to Leeds’ comment: “I hope everyone can work together to resolve the issue. The school has reallocated funds, we hope the city will do the same. No one could have foreseen this. The plan kept changing by votes from people in town wanting kids in school more and trying to balance that with state and CDC guidance.”
Anthony Campeggio Jr. defended the city.
“When the superintendent changed from the every other day to half days the impact on crossing guards were never considered. Then it gives the city a little over a month to hire and train new crossing guards. That’s not enough time when dealing with a position like this. The new hire has to be fingerprinted, back ground checks. And then trained. You can’t train for this position when school is off.”
Mayor Erland Chau stated the issue is more complex than just hiring more guards.
“At my meeting with school officials, I stated that we would continue to provide the same two shift coverage for the 13 post. I infirm them that 3-4 guards would not be able to work. The 3 sub guards could assure the city that they could cover these vacant post. The city is able to provide its regular services…the additional shift has never been something that we could provide. In addition, any change in working conditions must be negotiated with the crossing guard union. This includes salaries, working conditions,, benefits etc.. Any one who is familiar with union contracts are aware of this process,” he wrote.
Former Board of Education president Steve Wynne stated “it’s less about the contract constraints and more about the communication. You or Nick P. (former City Councilman Nicholas Piergiovanni) would call or talk to me a couple times a month, at least once a month. When the mold issue happened 10 years ago, the city asked for updates almost daily. Why is Covid a surprise somehow?
“The city provides services such as crossing guards and police. Someone from the city should have been asking “what do you need” every week since July. I was on that board for 10 years, you were on it for years too, and we never participated in a crossing guard decision. Seems the city is moving to fix it, but communication needs attention.”
