Tulsa's crossing guards

With Tulsa Public Schools new bus plan, more kids now have a longer walk to get to school. <br><br>News on Six anchor Scott Thompson says the city of Tulsa is making sure kids get the right-of-way. Theyâ€™re

Wednesday, September 4th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

With Tulsa Public Schools new bus plan, more kids now have a longer walk to get to school.

News on Six anchor Scott Thompson says the city of Tulsa is making sure kids get the right-of-way. Theyâ€™re armed with a fluorescent vest, a whistle, and a stop sign. But city officials say there's not enough of these crossing guards charged with protecting your kids. It's their job to make sure kids get across busy streets safely.

And with more TPS students walking to school, crossing guardâ€™s jobs have gotten even more important. But the city says at a time when they're needed most, almost a third of the crossing guard positions go unfilled. Low pay, odd hours and extensive background checks make the positions hard to fill and the turnover very high. With so few to go around, not just every neighborhood can have a crossing guard.

Everything from the number of students in your neighborhood, to the amount of traffic, determines who gets a guard. But for now, city officials don't think theyâ€™ll hire just anymore.

City of Tulsa Public Works spokesperson, Kim MacLeod, "If we could increase the number of school crossing guards we would do it we are taking applications we would increase the number if we had the people to fill all the 147 positions so if we had em we'd fill em."