Set to take over the hiring and oversight of crossing guards for the 2022-23 school year, Palmerton Area School District is hoping to round out its roster before classes begin in late August.

Palmerton Borough announced earlier this year it planned to get out of the crossing guard business after many years due to an increased difficulty staffing shifts.

“Right now, three of the seven crossing guards who were in that role have indicated they would still like to keep their job,” Palmerton Superintendent Dr. Jodi Frankelli said Tuesday night. “Some of the others may also decide to come back hopefully, but this gives us a base to start off with.”

The district, by law, Frankelli said, is not allowed to hire crossing guards in the same manner it would other employees because they can’t receive Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System benefits or be a part of a union contract like teachers or support staff.

“We talked with another district who does this and what we came up with is that we are going to treat them as contracted employees,” Frankelli said. “If we get seven crossing guards, like the borough had, they’ll be on individual contracts, mirrored after the example we got from another district.”

Palmerton previously contacted two outside companies that handle crossing guard staffing. Both, she said, were based outside Pennsylvania, however.

“The one company we heard back from wanted over $70,000 for the year and that really priced us out because when the borough was handling things it was costing under $40,000,” Frankelli said.

Palmerton Police Chief Timothy Kromer worked on prioritizing the spots where crossing guards are needed in case the district doesn’t start with a full roster.

“We hope we can start with seven, but if we don’t we want to make sure we’re covering the areas with the most need,” Frankelli said.

To make things official, the school board passed a motion Tuesday requesting authority from the borough to take over the hiring and oversight of crossing guards.

“It’s a formality,” PASD solicitor Shawn Lochinger said. “The law gives the borough control over crossing guards so we have to request that permission from them. I have no idea why it’s written that way. I wish I could give you the history on that.”

The school district intends to post its crossing guard openings on its website in the near future.