Crossing guards at Evanston/Skokie School District 65 schools could lose their jobs as the district looks for ways to close a $16 million budget gap.

The potential cuts are part of Phase 3 of the district's Structural Deficit Reduction Plan, the same framework under which the Board of Education discussed closing Kingsley Elementary School and Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies at a June 2 meeting. The Daily Northwestern reported the crossing guard reductions on Thursday, June 18.

In mid-May, a Daily Northwestern reporter watched crossing guard Deloris Finley help a mother and child cross Ridge Avenue outside Oakton Elementary School. The road is four lanes wide with no designated crosswalk at Finley's post. Finley told the paper she wishes there were a crosswalk there.

The district has not publicly stated how many crossing guard positions it is considering eliminating, and no board vote on the cuts has been scheduled.

District 65 serves pre-K through eighth grade students in Evanston and a small portion of Skokie.