By DENISE MAYCCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE City of Freeport Council has confirmed that crossing guards will return on Monday to again assist students on the streets.

This comes after concerns were raised over the absence of crossing guards at the various public schools in the Freeport area.

Chief Councillor Frazette Gibson, of the City of Freeport District Council, told The Tribune that the council has hired ten additional crossing guards to assist students during peak morning and after-school hours.

“We have hired persons who are presently being trained and will begin on Monday, September 26,” she said.

Ms Gibson said she was aware of concerns expressed by the school principal at Maurice Moore Primary School. During their monthly meeting last Tuesday, she said the issue was addressed and a decision was made to hire guards.

“Safety is an important concept to citizens, and we at the City of Freeport Council believe that the incident as it relates to the crossing guards was most unfortunate,” she said.

“The principal at Maurice Moore Primary had contacted me and some administrators expressing the importance of crossing guards and we could not let that issue continue any further. So we acted with haste to address it immediately.”

Initially, some 13 crossing guards were employed in the Freeport area before the closing of the last school year. When school reopened in September, only one crossing guard was stationed at the cross walk on Coral Road.

According to Ms Gibson, the Road Traffic Department had assumed responsibility for salary payments of crossing guards in 2020.

She noted that in 2020, the City of Freeport Council petitioned the former government at the time to take on the salaries of crossing guards because “the council’s budget had been cut severely.”

Principal Rodney Bethel of Maurice Moore Primary School said that a crossing guard is needed at the school to ensure the safety of their students. He said that a security officer and a school aide had been assisting students with crossing the street after school.

He told The Tribune that he hoped the matter could be addressed soon because traffic flow is very heavy around the school in the morning and after school.