City says crossing guard not in budget

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- Irate parents say they will stop at nothing to ensure a

desperately needed crossing guard at Killybrooke Elementary School is

hired, despite city officials saying the position is not in the budget.

“I’ll go as far as I have to,” said Killybrooke PTA president Joyce

Christiansen, who vowed to attend every Costa Mesa City Council meeting

until the issue is resolved. “A child’s life is worth any amount of

money.”

The need for a crossing guard at the school became apparent after a new

rule -- started this this year -- banned parents from driving through the

parking lot during bus hours, said Principal Mary Ann Gilbreth.

“Our parking lot is such that it had become very dangerous with buses and

parents double- and triple-parking,” Gilbreth said. “We trained all the

students to walk across, but we need a crossing guard.”

When the city sent a representative to verify that the school met the

40-student minimum to warrant a crossing guard, they found 55 students

crossing in the afternoon and 86 in the morning.

Once school officials were assured that they met the requirements for a

guard, Gilbreth and parents thought the problem was solved.

Peter Naghavi, the city’s transportation manager, said it will be -- but

not until next year.

He said the school failed to meet the number requirements in time for a

guard to be included in the city’s annual budget.

The city has two additional crossing guard positions marked for other

schools, but they have not been filled, Naghavi said.

“They told me to find someone because they had a shortage,” Christiansen

said. “I found a parent at school, but when I contacted them back, I was

told she would have to go to another school and that we’d have to wait

until next year.”

Already frustrated parents became angry after Gilbreth relayed a city

employee’s comment that “even if two kids get hit tomorrow, you still

won’t get a crossing guard until next year -- it’s just not in the

budget.”

Although Naghavi insisted that no members of his staff would ever make

such a remark, parents were incensed.

“I couldn’t believe that. I was really offended,” said Sheryl Slaney, who

has two girls at Killybrooke. “If this man is a parent, I feel really bad

for his kids. Our job as parents is to keep kids safe.”

Slaney was the parent willing to take the crossing guard position at

Killybrooke, but not for another school.

“If she takes the job, she would be sent elsewhere,” Naghavi said. “I

can’t hire her for this new location. If she wants to be a city employee,

I will decide where she works.”

However, if Slaney wanted to work as a volunteer at Killybrooke, Naghavi

said he would let her do so if the city permitted it.

Gilbreth and Christiansen took the issue before the City Council on

Monday night in hopes of finding a solution during this school year.

Mayor Gary Monahan said that although it was the first time he had heard

about the issue, he was confident that things could be worked out.