SCHOOL GUARDS FAIL TO SHOW ANTONOVICH ASKS FOR EXPLANATION.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- A county supervisor is asking for answers, after crossing guards failed to show last week at five Santa Clarita Valley intersections.

The intersections were not staffed from Aug. 21, until replacements were found about three days later, said Bob Hauter, an aide to Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, said Monday.

The problem did not affect school within Santa Clarita city limits where the city runs the crossing guard program.

But in outlying areas, parents flooded Antonovich's office with complaints about the unstaffed intersections last week.

``It's very dangerous,'' said parent Renee Sabol, who called Antonovich's office because there were no crossing guards at two intersections along busy Hillcrest Parkway.

``Very dangerous situation, and I encouraged parents to make sure that they cross with their children,'' she said.

On Monday, crossing guards from All City Management Services were staffing the two intersections along Hillcrest Parkway. The county has hired All City to replace International Services Inc. at trouble spots in the Santa Clarita Valley where crossing guards failed to show up.

It was unclear why the crossing guards failed to show up at the five intersections in Santa Clarita Valley, and a representative from International Services declined to comment.

The company is in the last year of a contract with the county to cover more than 200 intersections in unincorporated areas throughout the county. The county is scheduled to ask companies to bid on the contract within 60 days.

``We will pay special attention to this, because of the issues we're having now,'' said Ferris Trimble, director of the division of business operations for the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

On Monday, there was still no crossing guard at the intersection of Carroll Lane and Clifton Place, near Stevenson Ranch Elementary. Trimble said that appeared to be the last unstaffed intersection in the Santa Clarita area.

Antonovich, the county supervisor, will introduce a motion at today's Board of Supervisors meeting asking for a report on why crossing guards failed to show up, and for a plan to guarantee intersections are covered with replacements when crossing guards are no-shows.

``We understand the fact that somebody may not show up to work,'' said Paul Novak, a deputy to Antonovich. ``But it shouldn't happen at multiple schools over several days.''

The other intersections that were missing crossing guards last week were: Old Rock Road and Boulder Crest Drive, near Oak Hill Elementary; and Santa Catarina Road and Plum Canyon Road, near Plum Canyon Elementary.

Crossing guards are often paid between $7 and $10 an hour and they only work a few hours each day, Trimble said. ``That makes it very difficult for the retention,'' he said.

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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