Last year, the Lagunitas Community School crossing guard was the Transportation Authority of Marin’s Crossing Guard of the Year. This year, he’ll have more local competition. Starting in August, Bolinas and West Marin Schools will have guards of their own who might bring an award-winning skill set to their roles. Both schools had received TAM-funded guards in the past but lost them after the authority’s quadrennial evaluations determined they no longer made the grade. The criteria have since been modified, and both schools made the cut, along with 88 other schools across the county this year. That news came as a relief to Jacquie Waterman, a Bolinas parent who was so worried about kids crossing the road to get to Bolinas School that she used to serve as a volunteer guard. “When I started doing the crossing, I had so many kids thank me—everyone from the little ones to the eighth graders,” she said. “You can see their trepidation when they come up to that street. They don’t even want to set foot out there.” Mornings in front of the school can be hectic, with parents lining up on both sides of the road to drop off their kids. There’s a crosswalk and a flashing light in front of the school, but even that doesn’t slow some drivers down, including out-of-towners zipping off to the beach with surfboards on their roofs. “The cars really go for it on that straightaway,” said Ms. Waterman, who works at Las Baulines Nursery, just down the road from the school. “I had a woman come in one time who was completely shaken up because she nearly hit a child that was running across the street. The parent yelled at her, and she felt terrible, even though she wasn’t going very fast.” Like the motorists heading to Bolinas, the drivers passing through Point Reyes Station on Highway 1 are not always deterred by the crosswalk and flashing yellow light in front West Marin School, according to Justine Quattlander, who has two children there. “That road is really dangerous,” she said. “I love that there are now blinking lights out there, but having a crossing guard is a really great idea. Even though the country roads out here seem like they’re safe, people fly along there.” Caltrans installed the pedestrian light last year. TAM’s crossing guard program is financed by Marin’s transportation sales tax, Measure A, and the county’s vehicle registration fee, Measure B. The program is expected to cost over $2 million next year. The agency contracts with a company that recruits crossing guards statewide. They are paid about $20 an hour for four hours of work each day. Although they are only in the crosswalk for about two hours, they earn extra because their split shift requires them to get to school twice a day. TAM’s formula for selecting schools considers a variety of factors, including vehicle and pedestrian volumes, whether the site is on a crest of a vertical curve, accident history and the speed limit of any approaching roadway.