'I’m flabbergasted as to why we don’t have a program here': Barrie mother calling for city to hire crossing guards

More than 900 people sign petition to bring adult crossing guards to 40 elementary schools

Simcoe.com
June 5, 2023
Chris Simon

Tannis McCarthy just wants her son, Jameson, to arrive at school safely each morning.

The Barrie mother’s six-year-old currently attends Saint Gabriel the Archangel Catholic School.

While he isn’t quite ready to walk there on his own each day, that time will come within the next couple of years. But she worries about the fact he’ll have to cross Prince William Way -- a busy south end street -- to get to class.

So, she’s started a petition calling on the City of Barrie to institute an adult crossing-guard program across the municipality.

Thus far, the Change.org document has more than 900 signatures. She’s also launched a corresponding GoFundMe page to pay for flyers and postage to help raise awareness about the need for the program.

And McCarthy plans to bring her request to the city’s community safety committee on June 21.

“I’ve seen how it works (in Bradford) and how it was needed,” she said. “I’m flabbergasted as to why we don’t have a program here. He has to cross a very busy road when he becomes a walker. I want an extra adult set of eyes to make sure he crosses safely -- him and all the other children in our neighbourhood.”

Many parents have expressed to McCarthy that they’ve witnessed several “near misses” within school zones throughout the municipality.

Other cities, such as Toronto, London, Ottawa and Vaughan, have programs in place. Locally, so too does Bradford and Orillia.

Mayor Alex Nuttall is open to the idea.

The specific development of an adult crossing guard program fits within the mandates of the four school boards represented in Barrie, he said.

“Council is encouraged by the efforts to create this petition and have been in contact with the petition organizers to listen to their concerns. Council takes the issue of community safety extremely seriously, and will explore all avenues necessary, including traffic calming measures and working with the Barrie police, to ensure we have safe streets throughout the community, specifically in school zones,” Nuttall said.

The municipality currently allocates about $30,000 per year toward a student crossing guard program administered by Barrie police. This provides student volunteers with training from officers, along with safety vests and traffic cones, and the patrollers assist their schoolmates with crossing roads within visual distance of schools.

Crossing-guard programs are governed under the Highway Traffic Act, meaning staff are typically employed by the municipality and not the local school boards. City staff reviewed the issue in 2015, and noted about $650,000 per year would be required to roll out a new adult crossing-guard program at about 150 sites around the municipality.

In a story published in December 2021, former mayor Jeff Lehman cited serious concerns about cost, where a program should be piloted, the feasibility of hiring enough people, and whether the city could be held liable in an accident.

He also stated that, given the more than 40 elementary schools in the city, several hundred crossing guards would need to be hired.

But safety within a growing city needs to be taken into account here, McCarthy said.

“Municipalities are the ones who employ crossing guards," she said. "I don’t want to see student walker patrols in place of adult crossing guards. That may be appropriate in some areas, but not at riskier intersections. There is demand for this.”

A program would also complement city plans to bump up traffic calming measures such as radar boards and speed humps, McCarthy said.