McLean High School will get its crossing guard back permanently. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted without opposition Tuesday, Sept. 15, to approve $707,908 in recurring funding for 11 guard positions at 10 high schools.

The money, part of the county's carryover budget package, will fund 11 Fairfax County Police Department merit positions. Police officers will keep staffing the crossings until those positions are filled, Patch reported.

Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman, who co-sponsored a related safety task force, previewed the outcome earlier in the meeting. "I think spoiler alert, folks: you're going to get the crossing guards back," Bierman said.

The guards had been cut when the school year began Monday, Aug. 24, as part of a $1.89 million reduction to the FCPD crossing guard program in the fiscal 2027 budget adopted in May. McLean High was one of 10 schools that lost coverage. The other nine are Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly, Edison, Oakton, South County, South Lakes, West Springfield and West Potomac.

Pressure to reverse the cuts mounted quickly. A 16-year-old student was struck by a vehicle while walking to South Lakes High School on Monday, Aug. 31, suffering minor injuries. The county temporarily restored guards and police officers to all 10 schools on Thursday, Sept. 3. Then on Wednesday, Sept. 9, a 13-year-old Frost Middle School student riding a bicycle was killed by a truck on Pickett Road in Fairfax City.

County staff determined 11 positions, not the original 13 that were eliminated, are sufficient to cover the crossings. South Lakes will have two guards; every other school gets one. Staff also proposed new crosswalks at McLean, Oakton and South Lakes, according to a memo from Deputy County Executive Tom Arnold reported by FFXnow.

Board Chairman Jeff McKay included the guard funding in his carryover motion after a lengthy public hearing. Several School Board members and students testified. South Lakes senior Sarah Russell described a vehicle nearly striking her and her sister while they were crossing South Lakes Drive.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity said he had concerns about other parts of the carryover package but backed it because of the guards. Herrity said the crossing guard cuts should never have been proposed, a position he said he has held since the idea first surfaced in 2025, according to the Fairfax Times.

Supervisors also approved a joint task force with the Fairfax County School Board on pedestrian and traffic safety around schools. McKay, Vice Chair Kathy Smith of the Sully District and Bierman co-sponsored the proposal. McKay named Smith and Bierman as the board's representatives and asked School Board Chair Robyn Lady to appoint two members from her side.

The task force will examine road design, deployment of safety personnel, funding, education campaigns and potential state law changes. McKay said the group should finish its work in time for recommendations to shape the next county budget. The carryover package also includes nearly $9 million for pedestrian and bicycle improvements countywide.

No date has been set for the task force's first meeting.