Melvindale Police Chief Dan Jones discusses public safety issues at the Oct. 6 city council meeting.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – With the Melvindale-North Allen Park School District unable to provide school buses, the police chief discussed crossing guard logistics Oct. 6, which are a school district and public safety responsibility.
“Since the busing has ceased for the school, we have two different budgets, and they have a bigger budget than we do, and they did hire some of their own crossing guards, to make sure the kids are safe at major intersections, but we have a crossing guard as well,” Mayor Wheeler Marsee said at the Oct. 6 City Council meeting.
Police Chief Dan Jones said that under state law, a city’s police department is responsible for training and supervising crossing guards, which he said they have always done.
“When the school came to us and wanted two more crossing guards, that was obviously an issue for budgetary reasons,” he said. “So, they agreed to pay for the additional crossing guards out of their budget, which was resolved specifically because of the busing problem.”
Jones said that the Police Department has only been able to hire one crossing guard, and has not had any applications as of Oct. 6 for the second position.
He said a crossing guard is needed at Oakwood Boulevard and Allen Road.
Jones said the current crossing guard makes $13 an hour, and he recommended an increase to $15 per hour to alleviate the current hiring challenge, and to bring them to the same rate paid by the school for its crossing guards.
The city council later went into closed session, per normal procedure, to discuss the compensation to be offered.