SUFFOLK, Va. — Through all the changes that come with a new school year, some things never change, particularly on East Washington Street in Suffolk.
Every school day around 2 p.m., the corner outside John F. Kennedy Middle School becomes Bessie Newsome's corner.
“They say, 'I remember you from Kennedy!’ But that was a long time ago. Now, they’re grown and married," Newsome laughed.
Newsome, born and raised in Suffolk, has spent more than two decades as a crossing guard for the city.
Suffolk Public Schools is one of several divisions in Hampton Roads with a full staff of crossing guards like her.
But from Louisiana to New Jersey, divisions across the country are reporting openings and unfilled vacancies to the number of crossing guards serving their respective schools heading into the new year.
In an August inquiry sent to school divisions across the Hampton Roads region, 13News Now asked for data about the topic.
These are the divisions (or in some cases, law enforcement correspondence) that responded with details about how many openings their respective divisions had at that time:
- Norfolk: 26
- Portsmouth: 14
- Chesapeake: 7
- York County: 2
In Virginia Beach, police said there is no set number of crossing guards required to be hired by the city. However, there are seven fewer compared between when school started last year versus this year, a decrease from 28 to 21.
The Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News divisions did not report any openings or challenges they face.
In Newport News:
Crossing guard duties are combined with instructional assistant duties. The job description is described as Crossing Guard/Instructional Assistant.
There are no vacancies for this job category.
In Hampton:
The school division in collaboration with the Hampton Police Division created a hybrid program pre-pandemic to address any shortages. Basically, the crossing guard position is a part-time position staffed through the Hampton Police Division (HPD). Currently HPD has eight individuals staffed as part-time crossing guards through their department. Additionally, through our hybrid program, select Hampton City Schools staff are identified and trained to be certified crossing guards by HPD to fill any vacancies.
In Suffolk
SPS currently does not have any vacancies for crossing guards.