CPS to cut Safe Passage workers' hours in budget crunch

Safe Passage workers who supervise Chicago Public Schools students as they walk to and from school will see their hours cut this year amid a budget crunch.

Ronan Shableski, interim chief of safety and security at CPS, told Board of Education members at a meeting Wednesday that the program’s budget is being reduced, but the schedule changes will help ensure coverage to all 191 schools with Safe Passage routes. Workers will be on the streets for 30 fewer minutes in the mornings and afternoons — an hour less every day.

Safe Passage workers are meant to offer a sense of security to students traveling to and from school. They often break up fights or heed off outside dangers in an attempt to de-escalate troubling situations.

Safe Passage’s budget has been scaled back nearly $6 million in the