Facing a nearly $300 million budget shortfall, Fairfax County is considering cutting 16 high school crossing guards positions in Virginia from its fiscal 2026 budget.
The change, included as part of a possible list of agency cuts to help address budget challenges, wouldn鈥檛 impact elementary or middle schools crossing guards, according to county documents.
The switch, the county said, would help save over $842,000.
The proposal comes as the Northern Virginia jurisdiction continues to grapple with how to handle safety needs near schools. Fairfax County鈥檚 police department oversees the crossing guard program, but county leaders have recently looked into the possibility of using a private company for those roles, citing police staffing shortages.
鈥淥ur intersections are busy at high schools with new drivers and pedestrians and parents,鈥� school board member Melanie Meren said. 鈥淪o there is no real data about usage in our crosswalks.鈥�
One parent, who didn鈥檛 offer their name while waiting to pick up a student near West Springfield High School on Tuesday afternoon, said families 鈥渘eed crossing guards there for our safety, for our children鈥檚 safety.鈥�
County documents say Fairfax County is the only 鈥渘eighboring jurisdiction鈥� where crossing guards are placed near high schools. But, Meren said, it鈥檚 an 鈥渦rban school division, so it doesn鈥檛 matter much to me what some of the other divisions are doing.鈥�
The cuts would remove 16 full-time crossing guard positions assigned to 22 county high schools.
In a statement, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said he鈥檇 never support 鈥渁nything that could undermine the safety of our schoolchildren鈥� and that the proposed reduction will 鈥渦ndergo thorough evaluation, and the decision for me will be based solely on safety criteria.鈥�
The Board of Supervisors previously said community safety officers could step up in a new role to address the crossing guard cuts.
But, Meren said, there鈥檚 鈥渮ero data in the county executive鈥檚 proposed budget that suggests that we don鈥檛 need high school crossing guards.鈥�
Supervisors will continue to work on the budget, which is scheduled for final approval in May.
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