City and District 27 agree to work together on crossing guard issue 

[December 19, 2011]  For those involved, this may have seemed like a very long couple of months, as an issue that came to light at the end of October quickly escalated into a serious problem for District 27 children, parents and crossing guards. 

The problem arose late this fall, well after school had started, when the District 27 school board failed to support an agreement that had been made between the city of Lincoln and district superintendent Dr. Mary Ahillen. 

Ahillen had been notified early in the year, when the city was working on building its 2011-12 budget, that there was not enough funding to support paying the guards for the full school year. 

Police Chief Ken Greenslate had discussions with Ahillen, explaining the city levies a special tax for the guards, but it was only about $15,000 a year, well short of what was needed.  

The city, in an effort to survive yet another lean year for unrestricted revenues, proposed to turn the responsibility of the guards over to the school district and also to give the district the $15,000 in tax levies, making the district then responsible for the balance of the funding as well as the management of the crossing guards. 

However, in mid-October, city officials learned the district board was not willing to go along with the proposed changes. 

On the last day of October, Mayor Keith Snyder, Greenslate and Alderwoman Melody Anderson, who heads up the city's financial committee, met with school representatives to discuss the situation. 

Snyder would later say he left the meeting feeling that the district would continue with the guard program while the city tried to work out a new solution with the district. However, just a few days later, crossing guards received notice they were no longer the responsibility of the district and they should contact the city of Lincoln for further instruction. 

In mid-November, the city council requested that representatives from District 27 attend one of its workshop meetings so the issues could be discussed face to face with the full council. Steven Rohrer, District 27 board president, and Robert Kidd of the board attended that meeting. 

There were some tense exchanges between council members, Rohrer and Kidd during the discussion. In the end, Kidd asked Snyder to put a proposal in writing for the board to approve. He told the council he knew what the board was willing to do in this situation, and a previous proposal from Snyder was very close to something they could go along with.

The following evening, the school board met and had in their hands a proposal from the mayor. The proposal included returning the crossing guards to the city payroll, but also incorporating funds from both the city and district to assist in the payment of wages. It also allowed for the city police department to provide guard training, but the district would be responsible for scheduling of the guards. 

At the District 27 meeting that evening, Kidd, Rohrer and Ahillen talked toward approving the proposal, but no official vote was taken, and the matter was tabled to be added to the agenda of the December meeting for the official vote. 

The December meeting of the District 27 board was last week, on Wednesday.  

Friday, Snyder issued a response to questions about the board's decisions on the matter via an email to Lincoln Daily News. 

In his response he wrote: "The City of Lincoln certainly appreciates District 27's action on Wednesday evening at their Board meeting regarding the crossing guard proposal.

"There has been dialogue between the City and District 27 about some matters (cost estimates, payment arrangements, applicants for positions. etc.), and now that both sides have approved the proposal we can move forward with implementation," Snyder concluded. 

Included in the proposal is the provision for an ad hoc committee to look at and address certain issues in the future of the crossing guard program. Snyder indicated the two entities are now poised to form that committee.

"The ad hoc committee will probably be looking more at long-term issues (e.g., what objective standards/measures do we use to determine whether crossing guards are needed at certain locations? How will the program be handled and/or evaluated in future years?)," Snyder wrote. 

Currently there are no crossing guards on duty in the city of Lincoln. The city hasn't moved forward in rehiring the guards because the city was waiting for district approval before implementing anything, but Snyder indicated that could change very soon. 

He explained that forming the ad hoc committee and finding resolutions for issues in coming years would not influence the timeliness of putting guards back on duty. 

Greenslate said Friday morning that city police have been at various crossings, but their primary duty there has been to conduct counts of traffic and children using the intersection. In addition, police have not been able to be on-site consistently, due to manpower issues on the force. 

The timeline for when the guards will return to duty is still uncertain, but Snyder is hoping it will be soon after the first of the year.

"Today (Friday) is the last day of pupil and teacher attendance at D27 until January 3^rd," Snyder wrote. "I think both sides are committed to getting the crossing guards back out as soon as possible after the New Year. We'll work closely with each other to get that accomplished." 

[By NILA SMITH]