Prairie Village will outsource crossing guard management, but current guards likely to remain

Crossing guard services at Prairie Village schools will likely look very much the same for the 2013-2014 school year — but the arrangement that provides those services is set to change.

The Prairie Village city council on Monday approved a proposal from the city’s police department to outsource crossing guard duties to Securitas Security Services, a company that already provides crossing guards to several area municipalities, including Lenexa and Kansas City, Mo. The police department, which currently manages crossing guards itself, proposed the shift earlier this year as a way to reduce the city’s exposure to workman’s compensation claims and decrease reliance on police officers to fill in when crossing guards miss a shift.

At present, the department has to take an animal control officer or police officer off of their normal duties to fill in when a crossing guard is absent.

Securitas has indicated that it is likely to hire the guards currently providing services at the city’s seven designated school crossings.

The company will be paid $17.50 per crossing guard shift under the new agreement.