Budget cuts eliminate crossing guards near Concord schools

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- Parents in Concord are upset that city budget cuts have eliminated crossing guards at some of the city's busiest intersections just in time for the start of the new school year.

"The concern is that a child is going to get hurt," parent Monica Oei said.

Parents of children attending Concord Elementary School say the phasing out of a city-financed crossing guard program could cost their kids big time.

"Children do need to learn how to cross streets. That's something that adults and parents should teach the children. But at the same time, they don't have the reflexes that adults do," Oei said.

The busy intersection at Treat Boulevard and San Simeon is just a few blocks from Woodside Elementary School, and it's a trouble spot even without young children in the mix.

"As a parent of both a second-grader, kindergartner and a 3-year-old, they're just learning the rights and wrongs of how to cross the street," parent Lori Lingenfelter said.

"We have seen that this year we do have fewer crossing guards," Mt. Diablo School District Superintendent Nellie Meyer said.

Meyer says it's a problem the district is well aware of, especially at its elementary sites in Concord.

"There are different things that we're looking at doing. We have volunteers who will patrol the front, we have parent volunteers who have volunteered to walk students," she said.

The district has also talked with Concord Police about stationing patrol officers at the trouble spots until the students pass through safely.