Last Tuesday, February 18, SFMTA proposed eliminating school crossing guards in San Francisco as a cost-saving measure at their board meeting. But by the time they introduced the proposal, the chambers were packed with outraged parents, crossing guards, and even students who had showed up to oppose the measure.

Wednesday, February 19, SFMTA directors notified SEIU 1021 that eliminating the school crossing guard program was off the table.

When SEIU 1021 learned from SFMTA the week before that eliminating the crossing guard program was to be included as a component of an option to cut the agency’s budget, we immediately alerted parents and the media. Reaction was swift and overwhelming: Crossing guards, parents, school officials, and even students emailed the SFMTA board and showed up at the board meeting on Tuesday to give public comment.

From tearful pleas from children to parents outraged at the suggestion that their kids’ safety would be put at risk to save a maximum of $2.9 million out of a $1.4 billion budget, San Francisco residents implored the board to consider other options to balance the budget, including extending parking hours and/or using reserves.

“We are relieved and encouraged that SFMTA listened to all the parents, students, and crossing guards like myself and came to the only reasonable conclusion: Crossing guards are too important to public safety to cut,” said SEIU 1021 shop steward Joel Kamisher, who has been a crossing guard for 10 years. “You can’t put a price on a life. Even one preventable death or injury is too much, and going to school should not put a child’s life at risk. We appreciate SFMTA’s decision to withdraw this dangerous proposal. We are grateful to everyone who spoke out and made sure the MTA board understands what a vital part of Vision Zero we are. San Francisco will be safer as a result of their activism.”

San Francisco’s Vision Zero plan, adopted in 2014, was meant to completely eliminate traffic fatalities by 2024. Yet last year there were 42 traffic deaths in the city—a 38% increase over 2023—and a whopping 24 of them were pedestrians. The city’s roughly 160 school crossing guards are crucial to making sure children (and their families) make it to and from school safely in a city where crossing streets is clearly still risky business. The program is already short-staffed, without a guard for every school that wants one. 

Read more from the SF Examiner here and from KQED here.