Salt Lake City offers incentives to fill school crossing guard jobs

Facing staffing shortages, Salt Lake City is offering incentives to attract more applicants to become school crossing guards ahead of the upcoming academic year.

Why it matters: The city's peculiarly wide streets can make it more challenging for kids to get across busy intersections to and from school.

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.