NEWS BLOG (WSAU) It’s a budget cut that hurts the children! How could you! The safety of our kids is at risk!

All of that’s true. And it’s still a budget cut that makes sense.

The Wausau School District and the police department propose cutting crossing guard hours after Christmas vacation. Right now busy intersections near schools are manned 90-minutes before class and 90-minutes after class. The proposed cut would be 45-minutes before and after. Almost all kids cross within 20-minutes before and after school. The school district will save about $57,000.

The purpose of having a crossing guard is help students get safely to class. The 45-minute window more than meets this obligation. If there are kids who go to school unusually early or stay unusually late, it’s reasonable to say the obligation for their safety switches back to their family.

The story illustrates a bigger problem. There’s a small, vocal group that will always be opposed to any cut – no matter how small, no matter how logical. And that attitude must be fought. I’m opposed to most school cuts. But when one comes along that makes sense, we can’t afford to pass it up.

Chris Conley
Operations Manager, Midwest Communications-Wausau
11.18.09