Los Gatos Union School District Restores Officer Position

has been restored for the 2012-13 school year.

trustees voted unanimously on July 12 to bring back the position, which will manage the district's crossing guards and add two such safety personnel at Los Gatos Boulevard at Kennedy Road and Shannon Road at Cherry Blossom.

The school resource officer position will be funded by the LGUSD, the and the at a cost of $25,000.

The LGUSD will pay $17,310 for the the additional crossing guards, trustees said.

In a July 9 letter written by Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Chief Scott Seaman to LGUSD Superintendent Diana Abbati about the shared-funding agreement for the school resource officer, the Chief proposed that the school resource officer be the point of contact for management of the crossing guard program, whose funding was increased by $17,310 to have the two new guards.

Chief Seaman explained in his letter that the school resource officer acts as a law enforcement officer and counselor, maintaining a safe and secure environment on the school campus which serves as a means of preventing criminal activities and disturbances and as a counselor establishing a more complete liaison with school personnel and students to prevent juvenile delinquency.

"It's our belief that the public, and both of our organizations, would benefit from having a single point of contact if there are any future questions/concerns with individual crossing guard locations," Seaman said in the letter.

The Chief also said that the efforts of the Safe Routes to School group have been successful in getting students to bike and walk to school and that the success has also brought increased concerns about pedestrian safety on the town's busy roadways.

The Chief said both the police department and the district have received multiple calls from the public requesting extra crossing guard services around town and specifically at Los Gatos Boulevard at Kennedy Road and Shannon Road at Cherry Blossom.

Last April, the Chief said he directed staff to conduct a pedestrian count at those two locations during the typical morning walking times for students, between 7:40 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., and the results showed that more than 100 pedestrians crossed each intersection in less than an hour. Those numbers were significantly higher than pedestrian counts done at intersections which already have crossing guards assigned to them.

The new addition means crossing guard services to students in the morning and afternoons substantially increasing the safety of the walking public, the Chief said.