A group of Lossiemouth parents met this week to discuss how best to fight the upcoming school crossing patroller cuts in Moray.
The St Gerardine parent council accused the cash-strapped local authority of “gambling with kids’ lives” by axing the popular service.
Councillors made the decision to scrap the lollipop people during budget cut proposals in February, despite fears the move would cause huge safety concerns for pupils crossing the road to get to class.
That problem is quite significant in Lossiemouth, with the crossing used by children at the foot of School Brae in the town being described as “lethal” without a crossing patroller.
At a well-attended event on Thursday evening, parents discussed various different solutions as to how they can fight the loss of the service, including a petition, writing to local councillors or finding a way to fund the patrollers in Lossiemouth itself.
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No final decision was made by the group, however, though further meetings are planned.
During budget debates earlier this year, Moray Council explained the authority had no legal obligation to provide school crossing patrollers – stressing it was the responsibility of parents to get their children to school.
The decision to axe the staff was made as the authority considers the future of almost every service, amid tightening budgets.
A survey run by Lossiemouth Community Council found that 85% of nearly 500 respondents were willing to stump up cash to fund replacements to the lollipop teams to ensure pupils can continue to be guided across streets.
With services scheduled to cease in June, when the schools finish up for summer, the joint community councils of Moray are also looking at solutions to the problem.
Carolle Ralph vice-chairwoman of Lossiemouth Community Council confirmed that the group were exploring different avenues in a bid to save the vital service.
She said: “We have had a couple of meetings with the joint community council and Moray Council to look at finding some way ahead and in principle look at how we can get support.
“We are currently investigating ways of publicly funding these services.”
