An ongoing clash between the city of Santa Ana and the Santa Ana Unified School District over funding for crossing guards could threaten the safety of thousands of students.
Santa Ana city councilors recently voted 5–2 to delay a decision to renew a $7 million agreement to fund school crossing guards for up to the next five years. The agreement will return to the council for a vote on June 20.
The agreement, presented by city leaders at a May 16 council meeting, would provide 55 crossing guards for 40 schools in the Tustin, Santa Ana, and Garden Grove unified school districts.
However, because the majority of the schools are in Santa Ana Unified’s district, councilors argued the city shouldn’t be responsible for paying for the guards and the district should cover or, at least, split the cost with the city.
Mayor Valerie Amezcua, who is a former member of the Santa Ana Unified school board, said she has reached out to the district about splitting the costs and has not heard back.
She also said Santa Ana Unified’s budget is larger than the city’s budget.
“I’m not approving this agreement, not because I’m against crossing guards,” Amezcua said during the meeting. “When it comes to the safety of our children, that has not been a priority for the [Santa Ana Unified] district.”
Amezcua called on parents to demand the district split the cost with the city.
Councilman David Penaloza agreed.
“I wholeheartedly believe this should be a shared responsibility between the school district and the city,” he said.
Both Amezcua and Penaloza criticized the school district’s spending, saying it inappropriately covered one board member’s paid time off and another’s membership in the Elks Lodge social club.
“We have a school district that’s throwing money in the trash, misspending it, and no one’s batting an eye,” Penaloza said.
However, councilors Jessie Lopez and Jonathan Hernandez warned colleagues to not be too critical of other governing agencies.
“We should not be throwing stones at other agencies because we also have things that we discuss here for whatever reason, that other agencies can critique us on,” Lopez said.
Hernandez said he thought councilors should focus on their own responsibilities.
“I’m not going to spend my time talking about what elected [officials] from different bodies are doing because I don’t represent them. I represent Santa Ana,” Hernandez said. “I don’t agree with [the district’s] decision to not fund the crossing guards but I’m not going to chastise them.”
Both Hernandez and Councilman Ben Vasquez voted to approve the agreement on May 16—with Hernandez saying that the city needs to take the initiative to protect children if the district will not.
“Although I don’t agree with [the district’s] reckless and irresponsible decision to not fund this, I don’t agree with my colleagues’ stepping aside and putting our children in harm’s way ... I am going to do what is needed to take care of the children in our village,” Hernandez said.
A spokesperson for Santa Ana Unified was not immediately available for comment.
