Starting Next Month, Buffalo Grove to Cut Crossing Guard Services for District 21 Students

When Wheeling Elementary School District 21 students return from winter break, three intersections within Buffalo Grove will no longer have crossing guards, the Daily Herald reports.

The decision follows a battle between the school district and the village over who should continue to pay for the crossing guards as well as pay for past services. On Monday, the school district sent a letter home to parents stating that Dec. 18 would be the last day that crossing guards would be at the intersections of Arlington Heights Road and Bernard Drive, Raupp Boulevard and Golfview Terrace, and Anthony Road and Cambridge Drive.

In August, the controversy over who should cover the cost of crossing guards came to a head when the village, which has in the past paid for the services, threatened to pull the crossing guards after not receiving money officials said the school district owed the village.

The village has been billing the school district for half of the direct costs for the guards since the 2013-14 school year and contends the school district owes them over $24,000. But without an official agreement, school officials have said it did not feel obligated to pay up.

Late in August, a tentative agreement was reached. The school district and the village agree to pay 50 percent of the direct costs of the crossing guards salary for an interim period of two months.

With that tentative agreement soon reaching its deadline, it appeared the two parties might be able to agree on sharing the future costs for crossing guards but could not agree on how to cover the past payments, according to the Daily Herald. The school district refused the village’s offer to forgive half of the payments the village says the school district owes, Buffalo Grove Deputy Village Manager Jenny Maltas told the Daily Herald.

Read more on the Daily Herald.

Read More on Patch

• District 21, Village Reach Tentative Agreement on Crossing Guards
• Letter to the Editor: District 21 Should Pay for Crossing Guards
• Dispute Over Crossing Guards Rages Days Before School Starts