LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Metro Police will no longer provide crossing guards for a dozen area schools in a move they say will help the city recover from recent budget cuts, but some believe the move will put students in danger.
Five schools are affected by the move in Jeffersontown, where Republican Mayor Bill Dieruf says many students, who walk or ride a bike to school, will have to cross a busy Billtown Road without a crossing guard to get to Carrithers Middle School.
"This was a total surprise to me and a total surprise this close to school," Dieruf said. "We have to protect our kids, no matter what. We gotta take kids out of politics."
On Wednesday, Metro Police shared the news in an email stating in part, "Due to the budget cuts and the changes in staffing that will require, we unfortunately are not able to continue to provide this service to schools in other police jurisdictions."
The affected schools are:
Anchorage
- Anchorage Elementary School
Jeffersontown
- Carrithers Middle School
- Cochrane Elementary School
- Jeffersontown Elementary School
- St. Edward School
- Tully Elementary School
Shively
- Butler High School
- Schaffner Elementary School
- Western High School
St. Matthews
- Our Lady of Lourdes
- St. Matthews Elementary School
- Trinity High School
"They did not even contact anybody to make sure that the kids' safety is not at risk. If you're going to allow somebody to take over, you should make sure the resources are there for the person to take over and the hand-off is a hand-off that is safe for the kids," Dieruf said.
The mayor also says not only was there no hand-off, there was no warning.
"It's somewhat disheartening that there was not any interchange between my department and downtown Metro or the two police departments," he said.
But Dieruf isn't alone in his concern for student safety.
"My first reaction was concern for the safety of our students," Kelley Ransdell, superintendent of the Anchorage Independent School District, said.
Ransdell said crossing guards are crucial in Anchorage because a lot of students walk or bike to school, which is surrounded by railroad tracks and 5-way stop.
"Because of the nature of the five-way stop with the train track, it's unique that it really requires two crossing guards to be able to manage the track for the safety of the students," Ransdell said.
Meanwhile, Dieruf also points out a memorial across from Carrithers Middle School. He said it is a painful reminder of the potential danger.
"Out on Billtown Road, we had a crossing guard get killed out there," Dieruf said. "I don't want that to happen to any child because Metro doesn't want to be on Billtown Road saying, 'we don't want to protect our kids.'"
Despite his concern, Dieruf says he is hopeful Metro Louisville officials will reconsider.
Thursday afternoon, Jean Porter, director of communications for Mayor Greg Fischer's office, released the following statement in response to concerns raised by school officials and other mayors.
“It is extremely disappointing to see someone trying to politicize a difficult situation. The facts are these: Our increased state pension obligation and the lack of new revenue is forcing departments across Louisville Metro Government to find efficiencies and in some cases, make tough decisions. In this case, LMPD is making a change to cover schools without guards and to keep from pulling patrol officers to cover vacancies. LMPD began communicating this both to JCPS and the affected police departments weeks ago. And as LMPD has stated, they are committed to assisting the other departments to smooth the transition.”
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