Guard shortage has officials at crossroads

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Aug. 20, 1998 | 10:34 a.m.

A shortage of applicants may leave some of the city's busy intersections without Metro Police crossing guards when children stream back to school Monday.

Officials say they need 26 more people to fill the orange vests at perilous crosswalks throughout the city. Some of last year's crossing guards, a crew of mostly senior citizens, quit. And new jobs at new schools have created a void, officials say.

"This year it got out of hand," said Helen Lawhon, who coordinates the crossing guards for Metro. "I've had people leave on me for eight-hour-a-day jobs. I had a few who passed away, or they left the city because they couldn't take the heat."

Metro manages the county's 151 crossing guards, training and supervising the workers and outfitting them with vests, hats and stop signs. City and county traffic officials decide which intersections need guards.

Metro offers crossing guards $7.30 an hour, paying them for a full two hours a day even though most of them man posts only from about 8:30 to 9 a.m. and 3:15 to 3:45 p.m., Lawhon said.

Nevertheless, most people aren't attracted to working a half-hour each morning and afternoon for $14.60 a day.

Officials have been trolling senior citizens' clubs and shopping malls for more applicants, with limited results, Lawhon said.

Lawhon said any unmanned crosswalks next week will be filled by one of four crossing-guard supervisors or a school's principal. A few schools also use parent volunteers. But a few crosswalks could go without a guard.

"We're dead in the water if they (the volunteers) don't help us out," Lawhon said.

Applicants for crossing-guard jobs are encouraged to pick up applications at police substations or City Hall.

Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones last spring suggested the city take over responsibility for crossing guards. Sheriff Jerry Keller seemed agreeable.

"It's still something I would like to do," Jones said Wednesday. "I think it makes sense. It seems like it's more in our line of work, and it frees up Metro to worry about solving crime on the streets."

Jones said the city might have better luck at finding crossing guards. She also said the job was important enough to raise the pay.

Metro spokesman Steve Meriwether said Metro officials were concerned about finding guards.

"It's a concern enough that we're actively pursuing filling those positions," Meriwether said. "They are providing another element of safety. We're grateful to have them helping us."

School officials on Wednesday held a media event to remind parents, students and motorists about school-zone safety.

Parents at Rundle Elementary School in northeast Las Vegas rounded up 37 pupils with bicycles and backpacks, who dutifully marched around the Stewart Avenue and Christy Lane intersection for reporters and TV cameras. Crossing guard Mary Ann Ruble guided them across.

"You have to cross with the crossing guard," 7-year-old Christian Stringham said. "If you cross in a different part of the street, you're jaywalking."

Several parents said the need for crossing guards is critical as more streets are laid and traffic increases in the growing Las Vegas Valley.

"This street gets busier and busier," Rundle PTA President Norma Whipple said, referring to Stewart Avenue. "We've had cars just keep on going, even though she (Ruble) was standing out in the middle of the street when the flashers were on."

Metro traffic officer Jeff Hutchison agreed that the city's intersections are getting busier. He sat on his motorcycle watching traffic interact with the children crossing at Rundle, pulling one driver over for creeping through the intersection.

Hutchison said the majority of drivers who break school-zone laws are parents. Police and school officials say they continually remind drivers to observe 15 mph speed limits in school zones and to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, but motorists routinely ignore signs and signals.

"There's always some knucklehead out there," Meriwether said.