Crossing guards are back at South Lakes High School after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Sept. 15 to restore funding that had been cut just months earlier.

The board approved $707,908 to cover 11 crossings at 10 high schools for the remainder of fiscal year 2027, which runs through June 30, 2027, as first reported by FFXnow. South Lakes received guards at two crossings. The package also funded 11 full-time police positions.

The reversal came after the board's May budget eliminated crossing guard funding at high schools as part of broader changes to the police department's crossing guard program. Those changes, which also included hiring contractors to fill vacant elementary and middle school positions, amounted to a $1.89 million reduction from the FCPD's budget. Ten schools lost guards: Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly, Edison, McLean, Oakton, South County, South Lakes, West Potomac and West Springfield.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn had pushed to spare the guards during spring budget talks. In a Sept. 1 statement, he said the board "should restore funding for school crossing guards at the other South Lakes Drive entrance … and any other high school that presents an unacceptable risk." He called on county and school leadership to find solutions at South Lakes and at other high schools where safety risks had increased after the board's decision to cut guards.

That statement came the same day a 16-year-old student was struck by a vehicle while walking to South Lakes, as FFXnow reported. The student sustained minor injuries and was taken to a hospital, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. The student was not in a crosswalk, and the crash occurred near an entrance that had not previously been staffed by a guard, police said.

The FCPD temporarily restored guards at all 10 schools the next day, Sept. 2, while the board worked on a permanent fix.

The Sept. 15 vote followed a rally and a three-hour public hearing at the Fairfax County Government Center. Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, the board's lone Republican, voted for the package alongside his Democratic colleagues. He said the crossing guard issue was "that important to me," according to FFXnow.

The board also voted 10-0 to create a joint working group with the School Board on transportation safety around schools. No updates on its progress appear in available public records.

Chantilly crash raises new questions

The safety debate gained fresh urgency on Nov. 4, when a male teenager was struck by a driver outside Chantilly High School and transported to a hospital in life-threatening condition, FFXnow reported. His current condition is not known.

Chantilly is one of the 10 schools where crossing guard coverage was restored in September. But an FCPD spokesperson told FFXnow that no guard was present at the crash site. The crash appears to have occurred near the school's northern access point, not the main entrance to the south, according to FFXnow. The student was walking in an area without a crosswalk, police said.

The restored funding covers guards through June 30, 2027. The joint working group was tasked with developing proposals for the fiscal year 2028 budget next spring.