TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Tom Kisela, City Manager
FROM: Adam Jevec, Chief of Police Christopher Cash, Public Works Director
1. Subject
title
Agreement with All City Management Services, Inc. for Crossing Guard Services including revised school crossing guard locations and procedures for location modification.
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2. Summary
The contract with All City Management Services, Inc. provides for the continuation of school crossing guard services in the amount of $454,949, representing the cost of crossing guard services of $413,590, plus a 10% contingency of $41,359, for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. The agreement was procured through a Cooperative Purchasing Agreement with the City of Anaheim. This report also presents recommendations for crossing guard locations and procedures for altering locations.
3. Recommended Action
recommendation
1. Approve staffing of school crossing guards at 17 locations identified in the attached Crossing Guard Locations List.
2. Require any changes to school crossing guard locations to be reviewed, determined, and documented by the Public Works Department.
3. Approve the agreement with All City Management Services, Inc. in the amount of $454,949, representing the cost of crossing guard services of $413,590, plus a 10% contingency of $41,359; and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute on behalf of the City.
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4. Fiscal Impact
The expense for this contract is $454,949 and will be funded upon adoption of the proposed Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget through General Fund (100).
100.4041.51670.00000 Other Professional & Consulting Services
5. Strategic Plan Goals
Goal 1: Maintain Strong Emergency and Safety Services
6. Discussion and Background
In September 2024, the City Council voted to reinstate funding for the School Crossing Guard Program (Program) and contract school crossing guard services through a private vendor. At the same time, City Council also directed staff to evaluate the City’s program and conduct a crossing guard warrant assessment “Study” for 43 school crossing locations that are either currently staffed or had previously been approved for a crossing guard. The associated professional services agreement was awarded by City Council at the November 12, 2024, meeting.
Crossing Guard Study Findings
To determine locations where crossing guards would have the most benefit, the California Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD) contains specific guidelines. The CA MUTCD provides uniform standards for all official traffic control devices in California. Moreover, and consistent with practices of other municipalities, the City also has approved local guidelines for school crossing guards. While both sets of guidelines take into consideration minimum traffic and pedestrian volumes that vary based on traffic control type, e.g., uncontrolled, multi-way stop, traffic signal, the City’s guidelines have lower thresholds that are more likely to be satisfied. For example, whereas the CA MUTCD requires 40 school pedestrians during the busiest drop-off and pick-up hours, the City Guidelines only require 20 pedestrians during either hour.
The Study scope consisted of collecting vehicle and pedestrian counts at each study location and comparing the data against both the CA MUTCD and local school crossing guard guidelines. The findings categorized each of the study locations into one of four “Tiers” as follows:
• Tier 1: 1 location, which is not currently staffed, met the CA MUTCD guidelines.
• Tier 2: 12 locations met the City of Orange local guidelines, eight of which are currently staffed.
• Tier 3: 4 locations met neither but served 80% of the required pedestrian and vehicle volumes, all of which are currently staffed.
• Tier 4: 25 locations did not meet any guidelines, four of which are currently staffed.
To ensure that crossing guards are provided where they are expected to have the most benefit and that resources are allocated efficiently, staff recommends that all Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 locations be staffed. To accomplish this would involve (1) relocating the four crossing guards currently assigned to various Tier 4 locations to the four crossings in Tier 2 not currently staffed and (2) adding a crossing guard to serve the Tier 1 location (all four crossings in Tier 3 are currently staffed.) Doing so results in a net increase of one crossing guard, from 16 during the 24-25 school year, to 17 for the 25-26 school year. Specifically, the proposed changes are as follows:
Crossing Guard Removal Locations
1. Almond Avenue and Batavia Street
2. Canyon View Avenue and Aspen Street
3. Palm Avenue and Main Street
4. Palmyra Avenue and Tustin Street
New Crossing Guard Locations
1. Prospect Street and Spring Street
2. Almond Avenue and Pepper Street
3. Cambridge Street and Adams Avenue
4. Santiago Boulevard and Serrano Avenue
5. Spring Street and Seranado Street
The above changes result in 17 locations being proposed for crossing guard staffing in the 25-26 school year as follows:
1. Prospect Street and Spring Street
2. Almond Avenue and Pepper Street
3. Cambridge Street and Adams Avenue
4. Cambridge Street and Glendale Avenue
5. Cannon Street and San Juan Drive
6. Fletcher Avenue and American Way
7. Handy Street and Collins Avenue
8. Hewes Street and Jordan Avenue
9. La Veta Avenue and Malena Drive
10. Palmyra Avenue and California Street
11. Santiago Boulevard and Serrano Avenue
12. Spring Street and Seranado Street
13. Spring Street and Virage Avenue
14. California Street and Quincy Avenue
15. Cambridge Street and Sycamore Avenue
16. Cambridge Street and Walnut Avenue
17. Prospect Street and Palmyra Avenue
Staff recommends these changes be incorporated into the crossing guard contract discussed below. In addition, because walking patterns to and from school tend to evolve and the Orange Unified School District may consolidate school sites over time, there is the potential need to review the addition of new crossings, closure of existing locations or reassignment of crossing guards. Since the determination is a traffic engineering function, staff recommends that any proposed changes to the crossing guard program be reviewed and documented by the Public Works Department. Any changes or budget appropriation requests would be presented to the City Council as part of the crossing guard contract award.
Crossing Guard Contract
To maintain a safe, cost-effective, consistent, and successful Program, the Orange Police Department recommends the continuation of crossing guard services with All City Management Services, Inc. (ACMS). ACMS is headquartered in Santa Fe Springs, California and is the only local company that exclusively provides private crossing guard services. ACMS has significant experience as a single service organization specifically founded, organized, and designed to relieve cities, police departments, and school districts of the concerns of operating and managing a crossing guard program. ACMS will manage and coordinate recruitment, selection, background checks, training, scheduling, supervision, and payroll of crossing guards. In addition, ACMS has access to a large pool of employees to ensure constant staffing at all designated locations.
The agreement with ACMS is being obtained through a Cooperative Purchasing Agreement entered into by the City of Anaheim. The contract will provide 17 crossing guards to be placed at designated elementary schools within the City limits. It will consist of approximately 12,240 hours of crossing guard services and will only be invoiced for the actual hours of services rendered.
For Fiscal Year 2025-2026 (FY26), the crossing guard hourly rate increased from $32.81 to $33.79. The increase is based on increases to minimum wage, advertising, recruitment, and training costs and is equivalent to a 3% increase for FY26.
Based on their high level of service, the Police Department is requesting the continuation of crossing guard services with ACMS for a contract amount of $454,949.
7. ATTACHMENTS
• Agreement with ACMS
• November 12, 2024 Staff Report Awarding Crossing Guard Study Contract
• Crossing Guard Study Report
• Summary of Study Locations by Tier
• Proposed Crossing Guard Location List