The Town of Neenah has regretfully decided to defund its Lakeview Elementary School crossing guard position, leaving no guard to assist students – residents of both the Town of Neenah and City of Neenah – across the four busy lanes of traffic on South Commercial Street and Olde School Road. To remedy this issue, Neenah Mayor George Scherck has offered, contingent on City Council approval, to split the $2700 annual cost of hiring a crossing guard with the Town. 

For the safety of our children and in the name of fostering cooperation and shared responsibility within our community, we the undersigned strongly urge the Town Board to accept Mayor George Scherck’s offer. 

Mayor Scherck’s proposal and rationale are detailed in his recent letter to Town of Neenah Chairman Bob Schmeichel and summarized below. 

Proposal: 

The Town and City will equally split the $2700 annual cost of hiring a crossing guard for Lakeview Elementary School ($15/hour, 1 hour/day, 180 days/year). 

Rationale: 

1) A permanent crossing guard is needed at Lakeview Elementary School. Children walking or riding bikes from the east side of South Commercial Street – residents of both the Town and City – must cross four lanes of busy traffic at the South Commercial Street crossing. 

 2) The City already maintains the walking trail along South Commercial Street and the crossing signal at Lakeview. The crossing signal is not intended to be operated by elementary school-aged children. 

3) It is and has been the practice that municipalities provide school crossing guards. As Lakeview School serves students in both the City and Town, the Mayor proposes that the crossing guard cost of $2700 be split equally between the two municipalities. 

4) The cost per child served is only $108, a small price to pay to ensure the safety of our children as they utilize the busy crossings at South Commercial Street and Olde School Road. 

We urge the Town Board to partner with the City to facilitate our children’s safe passage through both municipalities to and from Lakeview Elementary School by taking quick action to remedy this unfortunate situation and including this item in future budgets. Please accept Mayor Scherck’s offer and reinstate a crossing guard at Lakeview Elementary School.

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THE TOWN OF NEENAH BOARD MEETS ON MONDAY OCTOBER 14TH, 7:00 PM - ATTEND THE MEETING TO VOICE YOUR CONCERNS IN PERSON.