TPS finds ‘lost’ money, reinstates crossing guards
Bianca McKerihan on August 22, 2010 in Education NewsMore slideshows » Read more: Local, State, Economy, Education, Community, News, TPS, Toledo Public School, Crossing Guard, Crossing, Guard, Safety, School, Student, Parent, Walk, School Board, TPS School Board, Toledo Public School Board, Board of Education, Larry Sykes, Bob Vasquez
TOLEDO, OH — Good news for TPS parents worried about the safety of their kids as they head back to school on Thursday.
Tuesday night, the TPS School Board voted unanimously to reinstate crossing guards.
But how did the cash-strapped district come up with the funds to make this decision?
That is a controversy in and of itself.
Turns out, when the district decided to cut bussing, someone did not take into account a TARTA contract so TPS has an extra $824 thousand. That is great news but also pretty disconcerting.
“All of a sudden, the last minute, two days before school is open we found $800,000. It just fell out of the sky. I think we need a complete audit of this district,” said TPS Board Member Larry Sykes.
Most board members agreed to address the mistake but wanted to move on to solving the crossing guard problem but Sykes found that difficult.
“It’s unacceptable,” said Sykes. “In corporate America, we run this district like a business and in corporate America, heads would roll. It’s just unacceptable.“
Still, Sykes joined fellow board members in voting to reinstate crossing guards.
Just like last year, $515 thousand will be budgeted to hire 60 crossing guards and one supervisor.
“We’re always trying to negotiate a smaller price and I want to do that. The problem here is we’re in a crunch time and we’ve got to get those crossing guards out there for the first day of school,” said TPS Board President Bob Vasquez.
The other problem is that since bussing has been eliminated many more students will be walking further this year, meaning the same number of crossing guards will be covering a bigger distance.
So, right now, the plan is to have crossing guards in place for the first day of school.
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