A Lehighton Borough official remains steadfast in her belief that Lehighton Area School District would be better served to handle the current crossing guard shortage.

Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky on Monday responded to a concern from resident and former borough Councilman Scott Rehrig who asked about the issue of crossing guards.

Abelovsky reiterated that her reasoning behind working with Lehighton Area School District to see if they can take it over.

“At the current time, we do not have enough crossing guards,” Abelovsky said. “I feel we’re doing a poor job of it.”

The borough this year increased the rate to $10.50 an hour and advertised, but nobody applied.

Last month, council said it planned to become the second municipality to get out of the school crossing guard business.

That frustrated Lehighton Area School District officials expressed disappointment with how the announcement was handled.

Currently in Lehighton, the borough hires the crossing guards and makes sure those spots are staffed each day, while it splits payment for the guards with the school district.

The borough said it would honor its agreement with the district through the end of the 2021-22 school year.

Last month, former police Chief Brian Biechy said the main issue is that basically no one is applying to be a crossing guard in the borough.

Biechy said they’ve been trying to hold to the agreement that’s been in place with Lehighton Area School District.

Councilman Ryan Saunders said he believes the school district would have a much better pool of people to pull from.

In March, Palmerton Borough Council voted to end its crossing guard contract with Palmerton Area School District effective in the 2022-2023 school year.

Councilman Kris Hoffner said they had 24 call-offs of crossing guards in February, which resulted in Palmerton’s patrol officers having to fill in.