Crossing guards will no longer be assigned to Fairfax County high schools starting in the fall, a shift that has some parents and elected officials in the Northern Virginia suburb concerned about student safety.
The guards will continue to work at the county鈥檚 three secondary schools and at the district鈥檚 elementary and middle schools.
The change is tied to the county鈥檚 fiscal 2027 budget, and it鈥檚 the second consecutive budget cycle that crossing guards at high schools have been debated. Last spring, however, the county鈥檚 Board of Supervisors provided one-time funding to keep the crossing guard positions intact.
The county鈥檚 crossing guard program is run through the Fairfax County Police Department. The agency has a contract with All City Management Services, and as of mid-March, there were 17 crossing guard vacancies, which are covered by sworn officers.
Thirty-one schools are staffed by All City Management Services.
The change has some Fairfax County parents and school board members concerned about student safety. But the police department told supervisors that Fairfax County is the only Northern Virginia jurisdiction that provides crossing guards at high schools.
In neighboring Prince William County, the police department similarly oversees the crossing guard program. There, a spokesman said there are crossing guards at two high schools, but they primarily serve to help with traffic, not in a traditional way crossing guards operate. Prince William County is likely to move to only have elementary and middle school crossing guards soon, he said.
Fairfax County police told officials there haven鈥檛 been any crashes recorded at high schools crossings, so 鈥淔CPD does not have crash or injury data indicating that removing high school crossing guards would have a negative impact. Research indicates that teen pedestrian risk is primarily driven by distractions occurring outside supervised crosswalks, an issue that crossing guards do not address.鈥�
Based on initial budget documents, cutting the high school crossing guards will save the county close to $2 million.
The Board of Supervisors adopted the fiscal 2027 budget earlier this month. The budget year starts July 1.
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In a newsletter earlier this month, school board member Melanie Meren praised Supervisors Walter Alcorn and Rodney Lusk for rejecting the county鈥檚 budget markups and working to keep the high school crossing guard program intact.
鈥淪o in the exact locations with the newest drivers, safety precautions are being removed!鈥� Meren wrote.
In private text messages that Meren has posted on social media, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay criticized her newsletter comments and told her to apologize to the county executive, who works on the county鈥檚 budget.
Then, in a group chat with Meren and County Executive Bryan Hill, McKay sent a screenshot of his initial messages to Meren and wrote, 鈥淲hat I sent the bimbo.鈥�
When Meren asked if she was the 鈥渂imbo鈥� he referred to, McKay wrote 鈥測es, because you have everyone here angry as heck and it costs the schools.鈥�
Meren said in an emailed statement that while she was “shocked” by what McKay said about her, she’s “more concerned about the Chairman鈥檚 sense of entitlement about having unilateral authority on public spending.鈥�
McKay apologized for his words, admitting that he used an “inappropriate term while referring to School Board Member Meren that was disrespectful and wrong, and I apologize for it.”
McKay added that disagreements are fair to discuss and he should have expressed his views professionally.
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