Rye to Hire School Crossing Guard Company

The City of Rye will hire a school crossing guard company to hire, train and manage guards that will help with increased traffic hazards and changes due to construction at the high school this school year.

The City Council voted 5-2 in support of the plan to hire All City Management Services (ACMS), which will cost the city about the same amount of money as if the police department were to continue handling the crossing guards, approximately $170,000.

ACMS is a California-based firm that will hire eight part-time crossing guards who are already working for the city at $20 an hour and hire two more at $16 to $18 an hour. The company would assume all responsibility for guard services, including recruitment, training, background checks, equipment, supervision and management. They also carry their own liability coverage. Rye will be paying a flat hourly rate of $26.44 per employee, the mark up is to cover ACMS’ operating costs.

The school district will need to make changes to parking, drop-off points and pedestrian crosswalks to work around the construction of a new science wing at the high school and middle school campus this year.

Police Commissioner William Connors reported that the department had trouble retaining current part-time crossing guards and did not receive an adequate response to job postings for two additional guards.

Councilwoman Julie Killian and Councilman Joe Sack both voted against the contract. Killian said she had concerns about not being able to staff the positions but that she would like to see a track record for the company in Westchester. Sack said that it is a police department job that should not be outsourced.

“I don’t think that this adds value to the city,” Sack said. “We are going to be paying the crossing guards even less money than we pay them now, and we are paying this company that has no track a huge markup to basically hire the people we already hired.”

The council members who voted in favor of the contract agreed they would like to see a clause that allows them to end the contract if they are not satisfied with the company’s work.

Jimmy Amico, whose son died while trying to cross the street seven years ago, was against the plan to hire ACMS. Amico has been advocating for greater safety measures and more crossing guards since then.

“We are putting our trust in these people with our children’s lives. We have to realize that,” Amico told the council. “I just want to make sure we are making the right efforts to find crossing guards and not blowing this off.”