Two Niles-area school districts are finalizing agreements with Andy Frain Services to provide crossing guards for the 2026-27 school year, with board votes scheduled this week as back-to-school dates approach.
Niles School District 71 is scheduled to approve its contract at a board meeting Tuesday, Aug. 11, and East Maine School District 63 is set to vote Thursday, Aug. 13, according to the Journal & Topics. A third, unnamed local district has already signed its agreement with the Aurora-based security company.
The votes come just weeks before students head back to class. District 207 high schoolers at Maine South and Maine East start Thursday, Aug. 13. East Maine District 63, which serves more than 3,600 students across portions of Niles, Park Ridge, Glenview, Des Plaines and Morton Grove, opens its doors Tuesday, Aug. 25. Park Ridge-Niles District 64 students return Thursday, Aug. 27.
How the arrangement works
The contracts continue a model that began in July 2023, when the Village of Niles approved a $147,311 deal with Andy Frain to take over crossing guard duties from the Niles Police Department, as the Chicago Tribune reported at the time. Before that shift, the department employed 14 crossing guards at six public and private schools throughout the village, and District 63 paid Niles about $36,000 annually for the service.
Under the 2023 arrangement, the village bills schools and school districts for their share of the cost. At the time, that worked out to roughly $12,276 per crossing based on 12 covered locations.
The move followed a broader suburban trend. Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Skokie, Evanston, Glenview and Wheeling also use Andy Frain for crossing guard services.
Not without pushback
The 2023 outsourcing drew opposition. A local activist group called the Niles Coalition organized a letter-writing campaign, sending 216 letters to the village by July 31, 2023. The group argued in that campaign that "shifting the burden to school taxing districts could lead to increased expenses for residents without clear benefits."
Nicholas Zakula, then Niles deputy chief of police, responded in August 2023 that billing schools and districts would spread costs among all communities feeding into those schools, not just Niles taxpayers.
What's still unknown
The dollar amounts of the 2026-27 contracts, the number of guards to be deployed and the specific intersections covered have not been disclosed publicly. Andy Frain requires all crossing guards to undergo background checks and complete refresher training no sooner than 30 days before the school year begins.
District 71, a one-school district serving about 550 students at Culver School in Niles, has not announced its first day of school for 2026-27.
Back-to-school calendar
- Aug. 13 — Maine South and Maine East (District 207) first day
- Aug. 25 — East Maine District 63 first day
- Aug. 27 — Park Ridge-Niles District 64 first day
