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OPEN DELEGATION BY TANNIS MCCARTHY REGARDING A PROPOSAL TO INITIATE AN ADULT SCHOOL CROSSING GUARD PROGRAM IN BARRIE AND TO DEFINE THE PROGRAM, SHARE RESEARCH, DISCUSS DETERRENTS AND OUTLINE BENEFITS
Tannis McCarthy provided an open delegation concerning a proposal to initiate an Adult School Crossing Guard Program (ASCG) in Barrie. Ms. McCarthy stated that because of safety concerns for her children, she initiated a petition for an Adult School Crossing Program which has garnered over one thousand signatures.
Ms. McCarthy discussed slides concerning the following topics:
• The safety concerns raised by residents in the community after canvasing in the City in 2023;
• Statistics associated with elementary road safety by a national charity named Parachute dedicated to injury prevention, and pedestrian and bicycle-related injuries;
• The rationale for student safety patrols versus adult school crossing guards;
• The benefits of an adult school crossing guard program in the City;
• An overview of a study conducted by Green Community Canada on behalf of the Ontario Traffic Council entitled “Creating Safe Routes for Active School Transportation Guide”;
• A chart illustrating comparable municipalities with populations greater than 100,000 associated with the 2022 property taxes for detached homes;
• The previous deterrents by the City for not offering an adult school crossing guards program including, high employee turnover, liability, difficulty measuring success, and cost;
• An outline of a study published in 2022 by the International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health associated with municipal crossing guard programs;
• The responsibilities of an ASCG program;
• The ASCG program’s alignment with the City’s Strategic Priorities; and
• A summary of the program and the request that the City integrates an Adult School Crossing Program.
Members of Committee asked a number of questions of Ms. McCarthy and City staff and received responses.