STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 6159

June 27, 1983

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS:

Responsibility for payment of wages of school crossing guards

SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS:

Responsibility for payment of wages of school crossing guards

A municipality is responsible for the payment of wages of school crossing guards serving crossings within its jurisdiction.

Honorable David M. Serotkin

State Senator

The Capitol

Lansing, Michigan

You have requested my opinion whether municipalities or school districts are responsible for the payment of wages of school crossing guards. 1949 PA 300, Sec. 613c(1), MCLA 257.613c(1); MSA 9.2313(3)(1), provides:

In Pontiac Board of Education v City of Pontiac, 100 Mich App 52, 299 NW2d 37 (1980), lv den 410 Mich 905 (1981), the Michigan Court of Appeals held that this provision requires the municipality not only to train and control school crossing guards, but also to pay their salaries. Similarly, 1981-1982 OAG No 6097, p 727 (August 31, 1982), concluded that when a municipal boundary is the center line of a street on which a school crossing is maintained and two local law enforcement agencies have immediate jurisdiction of the crossing, each municipality is responsible for providing and paying for the school crossing guard services for the portion of the crossing within its jurisdiction.

It is my opinion, therefore, that a municipality is responsible for the payment of wages of school crossing guards serving crossings within its jurisdiction.

Frank J. Kelley