By JEFF STITT
McKeesport Area school board recently discussed White Oak council’s 2021 budgetary decision to stop paying for a crossing guard at Francis McClure Elementary School.
The board also talked about ways it and the administration can do a better job of connecting with leaders from the borough and the other municipalities comprising MASD.
The discussion started after board President Joe Lopretto read a letter sent by White Oak Borough Manager John Palyo on behalf of council.
“At our most recent council workshop meeting, council discussed the possibility of re-considering the elimination of the crossing guard that previously worked at Francis McClure Elementary School,” Palyo wrote. “Based on conversations with all of council, our position has not changed and the council agrees this position will remain eliminated in our budget.”
Palyo went on to write that “the safety of students is paramount,” but council feels that “the borough assuming the expenses of an employee that works solely on school district property is not good financial management on our part.”
Palyo said trying financial times have resulted in tax increases, along with several line items being wiped from the budget or at least reduced. The borough manager said the crossing guard, who was not named and was listed as a part-time seasonal worker, was paid $52.53 per day for 180 days of work, which translates to a little more than $9,455.
Prior to 2021, the borough had budgeted $10,000 per fiscal year to cover costs of wages and safety equipment, Palyo wrote.
White Oak council voted unanimously in January to eliminate the position and last month discussed the possibility of covering a portion of the crossing guard’s wages, but decided not to budge on the previously passed motion.
Council said it couldn’t justify paying the wages during a year it raised taxes when the guard was only required to work within the elementary school’s parking lot and at a parent drop-off/pick-up zone near a building entrance.
Council also said that its decision might have been different if the crossing guard’s duties required them to ensure the safety of children on the borough-maintained streets of Longvue or Educational drives, which are located in a residential neighborhood.
Lopretto said he isn’t sure why White Oak was footing the entire bill.
“We were never, for the 13 years that I’ve been on the board, have never been approached with, not that I know of, helping with the cost of a crossing guard up there,” Lopretto said. “We do it with McKeesport and everything, so I don’t know why we wouldn’t have done it with White Oak.”
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