Facing increasing difficulty finding and retaining school crossing guards, Hoffman Estates is joining neighbors Schaumburg, Hanover Park and Barrington by contracting Aurora-based Andy Frain for those services.
As the $227,851 contract for the new school year was signed just last week, the transition may not be complete until early next week, Hoffman Estates Police Chief Kasia Cawley said.
Last year, the village paid approximately $130,000 in salaries and benefits for its guards at about 24 crossings serving 12 schools, according to Finance Director Rachel Musiala.
Crossing guard Bill Wangerow helps Magdalena Cioch of Hoffman Estates and her sons Mason, 10, left, and Maksymilian, 7, cross Hillcrest Boulevard on the first day of school at Lincoln Prairie on Thursday in Hoffman Estates.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
But the burden the police department faced managing this particular public safety obligation was more than just financial.
In 2023, the department had to scramble to cover 354 instances of open crossings with police personnel, totaling more than 544 hours of officers’ time with the traffic sergeant spending more than 320 hours scheduling the filling of vacancies.
“We’re just looking for ways to free up our officers,” Cawley said. “It’s a real problem. These are hours that our officers could be out there enforcing traffic, crime prevention and providing other services to the public.”
Crossing guard Bill Wangerow, who is among those changing his employment from Hoffman Estates to Andy Frain, helps students and their parents cross Hillcrest Boulevard on the first day of school at Lincoln Prairie School on Thursday.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Furthermore, the availability of local crossing guards has grown so scarce that 13 recruitment campaigns were held over the past two years.
For the nearby Hanover Park Police Department, such headaches are a dozen years in the past thanks to its longtime use of Andy Frain for crossing guards, Chief Andrew Johnson said.
“Our experience with them has been great,” he said of the firm. “It made this the biggest no-brainer. It’s been fantastic.”
Crossing guard Bill Wangerow helps students and their parents cross Hillcrest Boulevard on the first day of school at Lincoln Prairie School Thursday in Hoffman Estates.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
In a survey of other communities Hanover Park conducted a few years ago, the vast majority of those polled were employing Andy Frain for their crossing guards, Johnson said.
With the costs associated with frequent in-house turnover, the village is possibly even slightly ahead with the money paid on the contract, he added.
Schaumburg officials said they’ve successfully contracted with Andy Frain for 13 crossing guard posts since 2016, and that their current agreement continues to the summer of 2026.
Crossing guard Bill Wangerow helps parents who have just dropped off their children cross Hillcrest Boulevard on the first day of school at Lincoln Prairie School on Thursday in Hoffman Estates.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Though Hoffman Estates has struggled with quantity, it’s had superb quality with the crossing guards that remained on its payroll through this week, Cawley said. And their dedication doesn’t have to be lost.
“The crossing guards that we have are excellent,” she said. “They can do this through Andy Frain.”
The pay rate the company presented to the village was $23.59 per hour for two shifts per day. The contract also calls for a single field supervisor who would be paid the same rate for six hours a day.
Crossing guard Bill Wangerow waits to help the next group of students and their parents cross Hillcrest Boulevard on the first day of school at Lincoln Prairie School in Hoffman Estates. Hoffman Estates is transitioning the employment of its crossing guards to Andy Frain for this school year.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
The agreement signed was based on an estimate of 8,507 hours for the school year and a daily cost of $1,251 for 24 crossing guards, six substitutes and the field supervisor.
The total cost of the contract also includes recruitment, training, equipment, scheduling, payroll management and insurance.
Cawley reported that high recommendations were received from the neighboring communities of Schaumburg, Hanover Park and Barrington. Other references Andy Frain offered included the city of Des Plaines and school districts 93 in Bloomingdale and 109 in Deerfield.
Andy Frain officials did not respond to a request from the Daily Herald for comment.