Cambridge works to fill school crossing guard vacancies

Despite beginning the school year with a shortage of crossing guards, and posting signs at crosswalks lacking a guard, officials with the City of Cambridge say only four vacancies remain. 

Last week, there were 12 locations around Cambridge school zones that didn't have a crossing guard due to a lack of staff. 

"I'm happy to report that we've filled many of those vacancies," said Leah Walter, director of engineering and transportation with the city. "We're down to four spots remaining that still need to be filled. We're also looking for some spares to join the team as well."

Walter adds that while sorting through applications to fill those remaining four positions, the city is no longer accepting new submissions. 

"We have a couple hundred that we're still sifting through," she said. "If there's a need after we process those applications, then we would repost."

The successful candidates are currently going through an onboarding process so people won't see them at their posts right away. 

Walter says in the meantime, available guards are prioritized in school zones that have uncontrolled crossings. 

"Locations where pedestrians don't necessarily have the right-of-way and must wait for a safe gap in the traffic prior to attempting to enter the roadway," she said.

Last year, Cambridge faced a similar shortage and had to fill 11 vacant crossing guard spots. 

WATCH | East York parents fight for crossing guard fired for feeding birds:

Community rallies behind beloved crossing guard fired for feeding birds

6 months ago

Duration 2:18

Residents of an East York neighbourhood are rallying behind a crossing guard who lost her job. Lisa Dunn says she was let go because she was feeding birds, which is against a city bylaw. As CBC’s Talia Ricci reports, parents say it's not enough reason to replace the beloved crossing guard.

Surrounding cities

Meanwhile, City of Waterloo's manager of transportation Jenny Renaud says the city is fortunate to have sufficient dedicated and enthusiastic crossing guards.  

"The majority of our guards are returning, and with a successful summer recruitment to fill the gaps, we are off to a great start to the school year," Renaud said in an emailed statement. 

She adds while staffing is full, they're always looking for extra people who can be called in last minute.

"It relies on dependent adults to be on-call, even in the early mornings, for a phone call to fill in for regular guards that may be off sick or away last-minute," Renaud said.

Renaud notes guards in Waterloo get perks such as fit passes to Waterloo drop-in programs at city recreation centre and paid holidays.

The City of Kitchener also confirmed to CBC News in an emailed statement that they're not experiencing the same shortage some other cities are, "but due to staff turnover and the size of our crossing guard program, we are always recruiting."