How Palmerton Area School District staffs crossing guards next school year could look different following the expiration of its current contract with Palmerton Borough.

While the district has always paid for them, the borough currently hires and schedules the crossing guards who cover Parkside Education Center and S.S. Palmer Elementary downtown.

The borough, however, is ending the contract, which officials said has been in place for well over a decade.

“The borough has made it clear their decision has nothing to do with the district, but they are facing an issue with staffing like almost everyone in the business world is right now,” Dr. Jodi Frankelli, Palmerton superintendent, said during a school board workshop Tuesday night. “We have to look at our system because we can’t just kind of roll over what they were doing or we’re going to run into many of those same problems.”

Frankelli said she, along with Parkside and Palmer Principal Ralph Andrews, have begun brainstorming ideas on how to safely and successfully address student drop off and pickup while trying to avoid crossing guard staffing issues.

“It could mean less crossing guards or shifting people to different locations,” Frankelli said. “Right now, there are seven crossing guards and maybe when the contract with the borough was first started, seven crossing guards were easy to find, but that isn’t the case anymore.”

Borough Councilman Kris Hoffner noted that, in February, they had 24 crossing guard call-offs, which resulted in the borough’s patrol officers having to fill in.

“That’s a real problem,” Hoffner said. “We feel it’s time to get out of the crossing guard business.”

No formal plan has been set in stone as of yet, Frankelli said, but she has contacted the borough to inquire about some different ways the district could handle things.

“I’ve asked if we can block off some of the streets during arrival and dismissal or add additional stop signs near S.S. Palmer,” she said. “We’re in that collection of information phase so as we progress through these workshops over the next few months, we’ll have additional updates.”