JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Parents, you know your child’s principal, their home room teacher, and maybe even the school resource officer, but what about the people responsible for getting them to school safely? Not on the bus, but on the ground. The crossing guards who put themselves above everything else and even in harm’s way are protecting your kids.
“If I have a bad day, a bad morning, where I don’t feel good,” said Barbara Butler, a crossing guard at the corner of 13th Street and Fairfax in Grand Park. “I have somebody come up to me, like one little girl did, she told me ‘Good morning Miss Barbara, I have some flowers for you.'”
Butler is like a second mother to the kids of Tolbert Elementary.
“I had a couple of friends that say that,” said Butler. “That this is my calling, that’s what I like doing and I do it very well.”
Down in Clay County, Eileen Elster has worked the crosswalks around Lakeside Middle School for 28 years.
“I’m crossing kids that – kids of kids,” said Eileen Elster. “I love it. I love the kids. I love the people.”
Butler said one cold winter morning, a little girl came to school in a skirt. She couldn't help herself but to go above and beyond her duties.
After getting parental permission, Butler brought pants to school the next day.
On top of it all, there’s real danger on the job, like careless drivers.
“They don’t care,” said Elster. “They drop their kids off and they fly out of here.”
“I’m so tired of how close a lot of the drivers come to me,” said Tonya Davie, who serves the Orange Park High school, where John Shatto was hit at his post back in December.
“I still had 9 seconds on my walk wait light when the driver came through the red light,” said John Shatto. “I saw him coming and I jumped back but I didn’t jump fast enough. His mirror on the car hit this arm and spun me around and I did three flips in the air before I hit the ground.”
Shatto’s injuries have kept him away from the job for months, but he said he’d do it again. “I’d rather get myself killed than have one of the kids get hit,” he said.
Shatto is hoping to return back to the intersection of Kingsley Avenue and Blanding Boulevard by next school year.
Due to the dangers, the job motivates some to take action. For example, Davie started wearing a camera on her head in case something happens on her watch.
“I started wearing it in the last few months specifically because of two of our guards that got hit,” she said.
Since Shatto’s accident, Clay County Schools gave their crossing guards flashing stop signs.
“Cars actually stop now,” said Elster. "They see the flashing signs."
Commanding Officer of the Community Engagement Program JSO Lt. John Lamb said their agency is constantly hiring.
“It takes a special person, without a doubt,” said Lt. Lamb. “Somebody who takes ownership over protecting the kids.”
No matter their beat, across the first coast, they can agree on one thing.
“More money an hour would really be nice if they could put it in the budget,” said Davie.
In Duval County, crossing guards start at $10.29 per hour for a minimum of two hours a day.
In Clay County, they start at $9.63 per hour. Typically working anywhere between 2 and 5 hours a day.
In Saint John’s County, they make about $14.50 per hour and average 14.5 hours per week.
In most counties in Northeast Florida, agencies are only missing a few people. The largest shortage is in Duval, where they have 22 posts unmanned.
JSO said they often have police officers and Community Service Officers fill in as needed, especially at the most critical areas where there is a high volume of traffic.
Districts across the First Coast said they’re looking to fill these jobs right away. Whether you’re a college student in need of some extra cash or a retiree with some extra time to give, you can apply for a job at the following counties:
In Saint John’s County, an application was posted online at www.sjso.org.
In Duval County, anyone interested in being a crossing guard is asked to call 904-630-2160.
Anyone interested in Clay County can complete an application on their website or email it to apply@claysheriff.com.