Crossing guard wages could soon be on the rise in Lehighton Area School District.

The current pay rate for crossing guards is $10 per hour, and costs are shared between the school district and the borough, with the district covering 60% and the borough covering 40%.

Superintendent Jason Moser estimated the total cost for crossing guards at around $65,000.

Lehighton Mayor Ryan Saunders attended Monday’s school board meeting and emphasized the importance of increasing wages to retain crossing guards.

“If we don’t do something, probably within the next month or so, we’ll at least lose one guard for sure, and two more potentially,” Saunders said.

He noted that other districts offer higher wages, making it difficult to compete for staff. Palmerton Area School District pays guards $10 per shift, amounting to $20 per day for an hour of work.

“We want to ensure the safety of students,” Saunders added. “That’s our job, and we’re going to make sure we continue to do that, but we only have so many officers on duty at those times,” he added, explaining that police officers sometimes have to cover crossing guard duties when positions go unfilled.

Lehighton’s school board discussed options for increasing pay and whether the district should assume a larger portion of the cost. Saunders pointed out that residents of the borough are “paying twice,” since they contribute to both the borough and the school district budgets.

Board members acknowledged the need for crossing guards and the challenges associated with the current compensation structure.

“We need to have crossing guards,” Board President Joy Beers said. “We don’t want the system to collapse.”

Moser proposed a multi-year agreement with incremental raises and a gradual shift in financial responsibility.

“I would like to see a multi-year agreement if we’re going to go down this road where each year we maybe assume some percentage of the cost, but we also show them that there’s going to be an increase in pay each year,” he said.

Moser added that the borough’s continued administration of the program would be beneficial.

“The fact that the borough currently does that and is interested in continuing to administer, regardless of where the financial lands, is in and of itself a huge benefit,” he said.

The district’s board on Monday reached a consensus to move forward with discussions.

“If we can start further conversation with Mr. Saunders, I can update the board regularly and maybe start moving towards an agreement that we can actually vet out and get some feedback for,” Moser said.