TO:Andrew P. Powers, City Manager
FROM:Nader Heydari, Public Works Director
DATE:July 8, 2025
SUBJECT: Crossing Guard Program Update
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Receive staff report and update on Crossing Guard Program for the 2025-26 School Year, in accordance with City Council-approved 2023 Crossing Guard Policy.
2. Authorize staff to issue a Request for Proposals/Qualifications (RFP/Q) for a contractor to administer the City Crossing Guard Program, for the locations that meet the City’s policy.
3. Direct staff to identify future project(s) to apply the Crossing Guard Program budget differential, if any, that can be applied to enhance walkability and bicycle improvements citywide.
4. Find that this action is not a project as defined under the California Environmental Quality Act.
LEVINE ACT ITEM: No
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Minimal staff time to prepare staff report is included in Adopted FY 2025-26 General Fund Budget. $489,773 is included in the Adopted FY 2025-26 General Fund Operating Budget for the Crossing Guard Program.
BACKGROUND:
The City has funded and managed the School Crossing Guard Program for elementary and middle schools since 1964. The program currently supports 24 City Council-approved crossing guard locations at 20 Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) schools, including 15 elementary and five middle schools. The
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overall program budget is approximately $500,000 in direct and indirect costs (roughly $21,000 per location) funded by the General Fund. The School Crossing Guard Program is managed by Public Works Department staff. There are two Senior Crossing Guards and approximately 30 part-time Crossing Guards that provide crossing guard services.
In June 2022, City Council directed staff to prepare a Program Report and update the Crossing Guard Placement Policy. On November 16, 2022, a draft updated Crossing Guard Policy and Program Report was presented to the Traffic and Transportation Advisory Commission (TTAC). Input from that meeting was incorporated into an updated draft policy, which was approved by the TTAC at its December 7, 2022, meeting. On February 14, 2023, City Council adopted new School Crossing Guard Program Policies and Standards (Policy) that outline objective standards to be used in determining which locations qualify for crossing guards (Attachment #1).
Pursuant to the 2023 approved Policy, annual intersection pedestrian and vehicle tabulations were conducted by a professional engineering firm at the 24 existing crossing guard-controlled locations in Spring 2023, 2024, and 2025. The tabulation results identified 10 crossing guard locations that did not meet the Policy’s objective standards for multiple years and are therefore subject to being discontinued pursuant to the adopted Policy. These results were confirmed by the Public Works Director and presented to the TTAC each year. The 2025 TTAC Crossing Guard Pedestrian and Vehicle Count Report was completed and approved by the Public Works Director on May 6, 2025.
Per the Policy, the pedestrian and vehicle count results were presented to the TTAC as an informational item to advise the public and receive feedback on the report’s findings on May 28, 2025. There were no public comments or written statements submitted at that meeting. Feedback from the commissioners included overall support for the program, questions about the potential transfer of the program to CVUSD, and the timing of annual counts which were moved up a month this year to ensure completion of the report before the end of the school year. Other comments included questions regarding the criteria for installing future rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) warning systems and traffic signals at intersections.
On May 20, 2025, City Council received an update on the Crossing Guard Program, including the results of the 2025 annual counts. City Council unanimously authorized staff to engage with CVUSD on options for future program oversight, including the possible transfer of the program to CVUSD. Additionally, staff discussed the possibility of having the crossing guard program be administered by a contracted service.
Per City Council direction, the City Manager and CVUSD Superintendent met and had a constructive discussion about the program and potential long-term oversight Crossing Guard Program Update
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options. CVUSD remains appreciative of the program and understands the challenges associated with dwindling crossing numbers at some locations. Based on CVUSD’s current organizational priorities and staffing limitations they are unable to take a role in administering the program at this time.
A shift to a contracted model, administered by the City, could afford more flexibility to nimbly add additional district funded locations that fall outside of the City's current policy ratios should a future request be made from CVUSD. CVUSD will notify the 10 schools that have not met the criteria for the placement of a crossing guard for the past two years of the reductions for the 2025-26 school year, following City Council action.
Public Outreach and Education
Starting in 2023, staff provided focused public outreach and education efforts to help support and promote walking to school citywide. Staff have also been working closely with CVUSD, interested parties, and the Thousand Oaks Police Department to better promote pedestrian and bicycle safety. These efforts to raise awareness about walking to school and crosswalk use resulted in a large outreach campaign, with a total reach of over 12,500 on social media. The campaign drove traffic to the City’s www.walk2schoolto.org website, which saw over 750 visits during the past school year. Complementing the online efforts, staff conducted in- person presentations, distributed custom flyers tailored to the school district, and placed an advertisement in the Thousand Oaks Acorn newspaper with the goal of reaching a broader audience. The ongoing updates to the dedicated website will further strengthen this initiative and will provide a valuable and continuously available resource for the public to engage.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
The results of the 2023, 2024, and 2025 pedestrian and vehicle counts indicate that many campuses do not have enough pedestrians and/or vehicle conflicts to qualify for crossing guards. The 2025 pedestrian and vehicle counting results (Attachment #2) reveal that 11 of 24 existing sites do not meet the minimum criteria to qualify for a crossing guard, with five of those locations having single-digit pedestrian counts (which is a disqualifying factor), and the remaining six locations not achieving minimum pedestrian or vehicle counts.
Per the Policy, closure of a crossing guard location occurs after failing to meet the school pedestrian and vehicle count minimums over two consecutive years. Ten of the 11 locations that did not meet the minimum criteria in 2025 have also not met the minimum criteria for at least two years in a row. Accordingly, these 10 locations will be discontinued for School Year 2025-26 per City Council-adopted Policy. Four of the 10 locations have an existing traffic signal or an electronic Crossing Guard Program Update
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flashing beacon traffic control system in place, and all but one of the locations that did not meet standards are elementary schools, except for one of the intersections at the combined elementary/middle school at Sycamore Canyon.
For reference, 18 of the 24 existing locations do not meet the standard State of California’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD) crossing guard placement criteria, which is the standard utilized by most agencies and municipalities. The City’s Policy, however, allowed a total of seven additional intersections to qualify because of the lower threshold established by City Council- adopted Policy. Four of these seven additional locations qualified directly from the lower thresholds in the Policy, while three additional locations also qualified based on one of the alternative pathways that is included in the Policy (Alternative #1; the 75 percent exception). This combines to provide a total of 13 qualifying intersections in Thousand Oaks, as compared to only six that would qualify under the typical state standards used by most other jurisdictions.
Prior to 2023, the failure to meet school pedestrian and vehicle minimums during any single school year subjected that location to closure. The new two-year rule is another feature of the Policy that allows for increased opportunities to qualify for crossing guard locations.
Below is the list of intersections that do not meet the Policy criteria and will therefore be discontinued for School Year 2025-26.
CVUSD School Location Intersection
Site 2 - Aspen ES Janss Rd. / Marlow St.
Site 3 - Banyan ES Lynn Rd. / Knollwood Dr.
Site 8 - Glenwood ES Windsor Dr. / Spalding St.
Site 9 - Ladera ES 1 Calle Damasco / Calle Almendro
Site 10 - Ladera ES 2 Ave. De Los Arboles / Ave. De Las Plantas Site 12 - Lang Ranch ES Whitechapel Pl. / Knightsbridge Ave.
Site 14 - Madrona ES Camino Manzanas / Marian Ave.
Site 15 - Maple ES Baxter St. / Kimber Dr.
Site 20 - Sycamore ES/MS 2 Via Rio / Via Las Brisas
Site 23 - Westlake Hills ES Cascade Ave. / Panamint Ct.
In order to better optimize the program, staff recommend preparation of an RFP/Q for a contractor to operate the program beginning at some point in 2026. The hiring of a contractor would include a process for adding and discontinuing crossing guard locations based on the Crossing Guard Policy. This approach would also allow CVUSD to request and fund a new crossing guard placement directly through the contractor or deploy school site staff as guards at specific locations, as is allowed by the CA MUTCD. Any selected contractor will likely have access to a larger pool of crossing guards, providing greater assurances of consistent and adequate coverage. In addition, City staff will oversee the contractor to ensure that Crossing Guard Program Update
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the level of service meets the City’s expectations Initial discussions with potential contract operators suggest a willingness to hire existing City crossing guards and match current pay rates.
Staff will prepare a RFP/Q for a contractor to oversee the entire program beginning in 2026. The contract will include a process for adding and discontinuing crossing guard locations. Any selected contractor will likely have access to a larger pool of crossing guards, providing greater assurances of consistent and adequate coverage. In addition, City staff will oversee the contractor to ensure that the level of service meets the City’s expectations.
Infrastructure Improvements
Staff continues to enhance school crossing locations as appropriate and feasible.
In 2024, the City added new electronic RRFB warning systems at two crossing guard-controlled elementary school intersections (Mates Elementary School at La Granada Drive and Wilder Street, as well as at Weathersfield Elementary School at Camino Calandria and Darlington Drive), under a larger project that enhanced crosswalks at 10 intersections citywide aided with grant funding. The City continues to seek additional grant funds to add additional RRFB warning systems at school crosswalks as appropriate, including those that do not meet the 2023 Policy’s school pedestrian and vehicle requirements. The City also continues to provide maintenance and upgrade at electronically enhanced crossing locations, with the most recent example being the crosswalk warning system at Colina Middle School, which was upgraded from a standard beacon to an RRFB system in 2024 to help increase yield compliance on Hillcrest Drive.
COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goals:
C. Operate City government in a fiscally and managerially responsible and prudent manner to ensure that the City of Thousand Oaks remains one of California's most desirable places to live, work, visit, recreate, and raise a family.
D. Maintain strong commitment to public safety (including Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, and Emergency Management) to ensure City remains one of the safest Cities in the United States with a population over 100,000.
PREPARED BY: Grahame Watts, Emergency Services Administrator Attachments:
Attachment #1 – 2023 City Council School Crossing Guard Program Policy Attachment #2 – Current Crossing Guard Locations Site Map DPW:590-70\ev \Council\2025\070825\Crossing Guard Program Update staff report.docx