HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Hillsborough County is on track to become the first county in the state to have a crossing guard at all of its middle schools.
- Program expected to cost $1.1 million
- All funding to come from county general fund
- More Hillsborough County stories
County Commissioners approved the measure Wednesday, paving the way for the sheriff to implement it.
Sheriff Chad Chronister said the idea came out of a conversation he had with Fourth District Commissioner Stacey White, who asked Chronister if he would support that measure if it was fully funded by the county.
After Chronister gave his approval, commissioners signed off on it.
“This is an educational program for our parents, too, because they’re going to see that crossing guard,” said Chronister. “So if it gets them to slow down and it saves one child from getting hit or saving just one life, than this initiative was worth it.”
The program is expected to cost $1.1 million, about $1 million less than the originally expected budget of $2 million. All of the funding will come from the General Fund.
Chronister said he expected to hire about 141 crossing guards for the newly created positions.