Politics & Government

Crossing Guard Search Proves Difficult in Rye

Rye wants to hire two new guards but haven't found anyone who wants the job.

 Standing at the corner of the street helping children cross twice a day for $20 an hour has not appealed to any one in the Rye area, according to a discussion at the April 17 Rye City Council meeting.

The council approved the Police Commissioner to hire two new crossing guards in order to cover more crossings in this year’s budget but the Commissioner has had no luck finding any takers. Construction at Rye High School is expected to begin this June, which makes the need for new help more urgent.

Rye City Manager Scott Pickup and Commissioner William Connors explored other options and proposed outsourcing the school crossing guard services to a west coast based company, All City Management Services (ACMS).

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But not all city council members feel ACMS is the best option and some asked Connors to try a different marketing plan to find local people. Connors said he has reached out to St. Gregory’s and other churches, Rye Recreation and few other places to recruit people. He heard back from three but it never panned out. Penny Saver ads were too expensive, he said.

“Recruitment and retention of crossing guards is sort of a one step forward, two steps back (process,)” Connors explained.

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He said that one guard quits every winter and another has gone out on extended sick leave. When crossing guards don’t make it to work their position is often filled by a police officer who gets paid overtime for the work, the most expensive option for the city. Because the position is early hours and not full time it is not the most desirable job, he said.

He proposed signing a one-year contract with ACMS, which would take over management of the city’s current eight crossing guards and be responsible for hiring the two new ones.

With ACMS, the existing guards would continue to be paid their current approximately $25 hourly wage and new guards would make $16 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.

The city would agree to pay ACMS no more than $157,995 for the year-long contract, which is about $10,000 under budget, Connors said.

 “This is insane,” said Rye resident Jim Amico whose son was struck and killed by a car while riding his bike on the street almost exactly seven years ago. “ We don’t need to spend 158k to find two crossing guards,” Amico said. He has been pushing for more crossing guards and crosswalk safety for the last seven years. He urged the council to consider other options within the community. 

“I think this is a terrible idea,” said Councilman Joe Sack. He said that if ACMS would offer only $16 an hour they would not be able to find higher quality people than the city could offering $20 an hour. He added that an ACMS contract would eliminate the city’s opportunity to interview the potential guards.

Councilwoman Catherine Parker thought it would be good to test ACMS out now before construction starts. Councilman Peter Jovanovich agreed. Pickup also emphasized his concerns over how the construction will affect crossing situations.

Jovanovich proposed that they go in two directions at once- have Connors try more recruitment and have staff vet ACMS so that they could make a decision by July.

"I am willing to take a chance but I don’t know enough about the company and I do think we can work on our marketing," French said. They tabled the matter until the May 8 meeting.  

Amico thanked them for "not rushing into the position." 


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