Fairfax County intends to move forward with phasing out the use of police officers as school crossing guards.
The Fairfax County Police Department would eliminate crossing guards at local public high schools and turn to contractors to fill vacancies at elementary and middle schools under the fiscal year 2027 budget proposed on Tuesday (Feb. 17) by County Executive Bryan Hill.
If approved, the elimination of the high school program would mean cutting 13 full-time crossing guard positions and save the county $1.89 million, according to budget documents.
The middle and elementary school programs would still be operated by the FCPD, but the department would hire contractors for vacant positions as needed instead of pulling its own police officers from patrols or other regular duties.
“This change only impacts utilizing police officers to backfill vacancies for middle and elementary schools, which will cost significantly less than the current practice of assigning police officers and will continue to provide consistent and effective coverage,” the advertised budget plan says. “Therefore, it is not anticipated that this reduction will negatively impact the crossing guard program for middle and elementary schools.”
The FCPD began discussing the possibility of privatizing or contracting out crossing guard services in July 2024 after staffing challenges led the department to stop covering school crossings in Fort Belvoir and Herndon earlier that year.
With 328 crossings at 164 different locations in need of coverage twice every school day, police officials told Fairfax County leaders that filling in vacancies with uniformed patrol officers had become an unmanageable strain on resources. In addition to being unavailable to respond to calls for service when monitoring crossings, those officers are compensated with overtime, increasing the program’s costs.
The county also considered creating a new program of community safety officers who could handle school crossings, noise complaints and other non-emergency needs, but using contractors appears to have won out.
The high school crossing guard program was previously put on the chopping block last year, along with a number of other public safety-related budget cuts. When finalizing the fiscal year 2026 budget in May, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors allocated enough one-time funds to restore the 16 dedicated crossing guard positions eyed for elimination for another year.
However, the county had already begun soliciting companies for crossing guard services, awarding a five-year contract to California-based All City Management Services on July 14, 2025. In effect as of Aug. 1, 2025 through July 31, 2030 with five one-year renewal options, the contract totals $485,679 with each guard earning $27.25 per hour.
The contract also included funding for crosswalk delineators and cones or other safety devices if needed.
In comparison, the county’s budget for fiscal year 2025, which lasted from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, allocated $2 million for 62 dedicated crossing guards and another $1.5 million in overtime pay for officers filling vacancies.
At the start of the 2025-2026 school year, Fairfax County launched a pilot program to evaluate the new, contractor-supported model. According to the FCPD, All City Management Services is now providing crossing guards at 31 schools, most of them at the elementary level:
- Elementary schools: Aldrin, Armstrong, Bailey’s, Beach Tree, Bucknell, Chesterbrook, Clearview, Clermont, Crestwood, Cunningham Park, Dranesville, Fairhill, Flint Hill, Forest Edge, Groveton, Hutchison, Kent Gardens, Kings Park, Longfellow, Mason Crest, McNair, Parklawn, Ravensworth, Riverside, Vienna, Westbriar, Westgate and West Springfield
- Middle schools: Irving
- High schools: Hayfield and McLean
Even with the additional help and despite improvements in the police department’s overall staffing levels, as of Feb. 5, there are still 18 crossing guard vacancies currently being filled by sworn officers, the FCPD public affairs bureau told FFXnow.
The awarded contract left room for the number of sites to expand. In its request for proposals, the county indicated that it was seeking a contractor to cover up to 54 designated crossing locations “with the flexibility to accommodate additional locations with a minimum of five (5) hours’ notice.”
Results of the contracted crossing guard pilot program will be presented to the Board of Supervisors’ safety and security committee when it meets next Tuesday (Feb. 24), according to Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who chairs the committee.
When asked for details of the pilot, Lusk’s office mostly pointed to the July 2024 presentation that outlined the FCPD’s initial proposal, but the supervisor indicated in a statement to FFXnow that the need for an alternative approach to filling crossing guard vacancies remains as pressing now as it was almost two years ago:
“School crossing guards are essential to student safety, providing a trained, visible presence to help children and families cross busy roads during arrival and dismissal. They calm traffic, prevent crashes, and support safe walking and biking routines.
In a report to the Board Safety and Security Committee on July 23, 2024, FCPD shared that it is currently responsible for 164 crossing locations each day. The overtime used to mitigate this need is $1.5 million. While on crossing guard duty, officers cannot leave their posts to respond to calls for service. In an emergency, every second counts, so it is imperative that officers are available to respond.”
