School crossing guards return Myrtle Philip school students will have a crossing guard. The Howe Sound school board decided last week to reinstate seven crossing guards at its elementary schools for the rest of the school year, at a cost of about $15,000. Only elementary schools will get crossing guards and only to replace what they had before. The school board also hopes to look over ideas it has collected over the past several years on how to improve street safety for its students, says board chair Constance Rulka. Some of the Parent Advisory Committees, for example, developed maps showing safe routes to the school. The Myrtle Philip elementary school liaison committee has suggested using road-side, battery-powered flashing lights to warn drivers during times when students will be crossing the street. "In the next six months we'll really look at street safety from different angles," Rulka says. Crossing guards must belong to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, a situation that complicates involvement of parent volunteers. Crossing guards are paid $17.03 an hour for their part-time work and are equipped by the school board with orange warning vests and stop sign batons. Crossing guards were eliminated last summer by the previous school board as a budget-cutting measure.
