Salt Lake City offers incentives to fill school crossing guard jobs

Context: Bobby Ridge, crossing guard coordinator for Salt Lake City, told Axios the city is looking to fill about 20 open roles.

Details: The city is offering perks like a free Utah Transit Authority pass, a $250 recruitment bonus, plus extra compensation for completing 85% of the school year's scheduled crossings.

By the numbers: The pay is $17 for each crossing period.

• The city's compliance department estimates school crossing guards can make between $80 to $170 per week, depending on the hours worked.

Requirements: You must be 18 years or older and available before and after Salt Lake City School District classroom hours.

• Find the job listing online.

Erin's thought bubble: As a parent of an elementary student whose only guarded crossing on a busy street requires an extra half-mile hike, I've long been aghast at the lack of protections for kids walking to school.

• My own elementary school in Iowa had a pedestrian bridge over a road about half as wide as 700 East where kids cross to Hawthorn.