Osceola County crossing guards will no longer be Sheriff's Office employees

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Osceola County’s school crossing guards will no longer be Sheriff’s Office employees.

The Sheriff’s Office is entering into a contract with a private company to hire crossing guards instead.

The Sheriff’s Office said the company will oversee all staffing needs in that department.

“This agreement will help our recruiting/hiring unit focus on hiring full-time employees such as deputies, dispatchers and support staff for the agency and will eliminate the need for patrol deputies or community service officers for covering the posts when the assigned crossing guard cannot make it to work,” a Sheriff’s Office official said in a statement.

The company, All City Management Services, said on its website it has been providing services like this for 30 years in 25 states.

The Sheriff’s Office has not said how much the contract will cost.

Other cities that have contracted the company’s services, like Las Vegas, have said the agreements are not about finances but about freeing up other folks.

Crossing guards told Channel 9 they were losing their jobs and benefits—but the Sheriff’s Office and All City Management Services said the crossing guards can apply with the company.

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