Edison Plans To Outsource School Crossing Guards To Due Staffing Issues

EDISON, NJ — There is a shortage of school crossing guards and the Municipality plans to outsource the service.

Council recently approved putting out bids for private companies to provide crossing guards.

According to Township officials, there is a staffing issue that has resulted in police officers covering those assignments at a significant cost to the township.

“There were significant issues with staffing and finding folks to cover the crosswalks. You’re then having Police officers cover that and that’s an exorbitant amount of money the township will be spending,” Business Administrator Sonia Alves-Viveiros said.

“The bid specification is to make sure our employees have the first dibs on those jobs.”

Councilman Richard Brescher questioned why the township is unable to hire crossing guards, while a private company can do so with competitive wages.

“That just tells me we are not managing properly, because we should be able to get crossing guards, keep them, maintain them. When government can’t function within itself and needs to subcontract out itself, I think there needs to be a change in government,” Brescher said.

“I’m just not a big fan of outsourcing any of our public work that should be done in-house.”

Most of the crossing guards in Edison are considered part-time employees in the township, which may not encourage people to take up the job, Council President John Poyner said.

“This is one of those opportunities where outsourcing may actually make sense for the township,” Poyner said.

Councilwoman Joyce Ship-Freeman told Councilmembers that the school board and safety committee has been working on this particular issues for the past four years.

The councilwoman said she was glad some action was being taken. “This is a direction we are forced to go into,” Ship-Freeman said.

Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com