Northern Grampians Shire Council has resolved to retain school crossing supervisors on council-managed roads in Stawell.
Councillors made the decision at an unscheduled meeting on Friday.
Council assumed control of a school crossing site at Barnes Street, servicing Stawell Primary School, and at Cooper Street, at Stawell West Primary School, in January last year.
The decision was a temporary measure, after the Department of Transport and Planning (VicRoads) announced it would no longer manage school crossings located on council-managed roads.
Council initially withdrew from providing school crossing services in 2014, due to concerns about government cost-shifting and a lack of appropriate subsidies to fund crossing supervisors.
Mayor Karen Hyslop said the Department of Transport and Planning took over the service until September 2023, when it informed council it would no longer provide school crossing supervisors at sites along Cooper and Barnes streets, as the roads were not the department's responsibility.
"In response, council made the decision in December of that year to fund the school crossing supervisors temporarily, despite not having the forecasted budget to do so," she said.
"Council was already focused on improving road safety around both affected school sites. We have invested in safety treatments such as roundabouts, pedestrian crossings and improved carparking to ensure areas around schools are safe for children and parents, with the aim of eventually withdrawing from school crossing services."
Cr Hyslop said councillors and council staff had heavily researched the pros and cons of withdrawing from the service, including participating in conversations with affected school leaders and community members.
She said feedback highlighted risks to vulnerable children, concerns about trucks, concerns about speed, added pressure on the education system, a lack of time to support the changeover, and the need for additional infrastructure to make the roads safe.
"There has been quite a bit of input from the community and school representatives and councillors have carefully considered whether or not to retain the service or continue to withdraw from the service as planned," she said.
"Despite no legal requirement obligating local governments to provide school crossing supervisors and not meeting eligibility requirements for State Government funding, council believes it is in the best interest of our children to continue to provide the crossing supervision service.
"Our children are precious, and we need to do everything we can to keep them safe."
Council is in the process of completing road safety treatments alongside the affected primary schools as part of a holistic approach to road safety.
