ORANGE

City officials will begin studying streets where school crossing guards stand duty to see if all the guards are needed. The crossing guards became an issue last summer when city engineers found a 1993 state law that relieved cities of the full obligation of providing crossing guards. The city asked the Orange Unified School District to pick up half of the $300,000 annual tab for the guards, but the district trustees refused, saying it had always been the city’s job.

Last week, the City Council unanimously agreed to a $20,000 study that will evaluate 24 of the 45 intersections that have a crossing guard.