Richland One, no longer at a crossroads, approves crossing guard contract

Sarah Brennecke walked her daughter to school this August, but found one thing missing at the busy intersection of Brennen and Kilbourne roads.

A man in a neon yellow vest with a stop sign was nowhere to be found.

“We definitely noticed,” Brennecke said.

Elementary school parents said they’ve seen an absence of crossing guards within the district since school began on Aug. 8. 

The school board voted on Aug. 27 to approve a contract that would place 30 new crossing guards at schools within the district, 19 days after school started.

Parents said school resource officers, principals and temporary guards filled the gap while the district worked to approve the contract. 

Bob Grant, the district’s chief operations officer, attributes the delay to a change in leadership after the former Security & Emergency Services Director for the district resigned in August.

“We were working through the process as quickly as we could once we got all of the information and all of the financials ready,” Grant said at a recent school board meeting.

But school board member Robert Lominack said the delay should have never happened despite the director’s resignation.

“This should have been taken care of, you know, over the summer at the latest. I don’t know why that would have made a difference,” Lominack said.

The contract was implemented and crossing guards returned to schools within the district on Sept. 2.

Elizabeth Wallingford, better known to Brennen Elementary School kids as “Ms. Liz,” was finally back.

She spent many summer days relaxing by the pool, but she missed the kids. She said she has gotten to know and love the kids she sees every weekday in her three years as a crossing guard.

She also needed to get back to work. Social Security wasn’t enough, and she missed the extra income.

Wallingford woke up at 4:30 a.m., drank her coffee, played Candy Crush and went to the intersection of Brennen and Kilbourne roads.

She said she was excited to finally see all of her regular kids, especially two fifth graders, better known to Wallingford as “my girls”. 

“They just make every day coming to work good,” Wallingford said.

Brennecke was happy to see “Ms.Liz” back and stressed the importance of crossing guard presence.

“Kids get nervous whenever they’re walking to school and they need a little assistance,” Brennecke said.

Wallingford knows the importance of crossing guards after almost being hit by five cars in her three years on the job, she said. 

She worried about the kids while she was gone and was happy to hear there was another district employee in her place. 

“That’s my first priority, the safety of my kids,” Wallingford said.