Administrators
Because of their responsibility to oversee and create the ‘big picture' for a district, are crucial to the development of safe routes to Humboldt County schools.
Funding Safe Routes
Funding for Safe Routes through the state (SR2S) and federal (SRTS) application processes requires the full participation of district and school site administrators to shepherd the many facets of the application. Successful applications include surveys, photos, detailed budgets and letters of support from elected officials, community members, school neighbors and others. The staff time, expertise (e.g., survey data analysis), software (e.g. GIS mapping), equipment (e.g.,quality camera) can often be made available by an administration.
Formal SR2S or SRTS grant applications also require coordination with county and/or city Public Works or engineering staff as well as a familiarity with Humboldt County documents which plan and allocate funds for SR2S. More information abou these documents can be found in the Engineering section.
Collaboration with Public Health is another way for administrators to access information about funding opportunities for physical activity, child health and safety. Contact them at:
Community Nutrition and Physical Activity Program
Community Wellness Center
908 7th Street Eureka, CA 95501
707-268-2132
Designating Bus and Walking Routes
Administrators, in conjunction with the school board, are responsible for school budgets and policies which determine how much money will be allocated to bussing and what the qualifying distances are (e.g., beyond 1 mile from a school) for bus service.
With the transportation staff, administrators are responsible for developing and disseminating bus routes. These routes are frequently available to parents on the district or school website. See Eureka City Schools for an example.
Increasingly, throughout the country, districts and or schools are designating walking and biking routes to school. Seattle has done this for all of its city schools as a way to encourage walking and bicycling.
Making School Siting Decisions
School Siting decisions , which also involve administrators, are critically important to the health of neighborhoods and the ability of children to safely and conveniently access schools. Districts across the nation, whether faced with rapidly increasing enrollment as in Las Vegas, or declining enrollment, as in Humboldt County, are struggling to address the costs of ADA compliance retrofits, the allure of cheaper land costs beyond the developed infrastructure of towns, skyrocketing fuel costs, and more. See an oft cited paper on the topic entitled "Why Johnny Can't Walk to School" for more information. For those seeking more information on the topic, the Environmental Protection Agency of the federal government has published a document entitled Travel and Environmental Implications of School Siting.
Supporting and Encouraging Staff Training and Participation
Administrators can use discretionary funding, newsletters, websites, and public appearances to help facilitate and encourage school personnel in all positions to personally participate in active transportation by using transit, biking, walking, carpooling.
Some possibilities included in this toolkit include ways to institutionalize incentives such as a local commuter check program which allows employees to purchase transit tickets with pre-tax dollars, using website space to organize and encourage carpooling, giving carpooling preference in school parking lots, providing secure covered bike parking and changing or even shower facilities for staff bike commuters.
Staff training on safe routes programs is frequently available through webinars and conferences. There are many resources available on-line. Administrators can facilitate access to these materials locally by including Safe Routes presentations as part of regularly scheduled meetings and training. School Site Councils and Wellness Committees lend themselves to such presentations as do district-wide entities such as:
Contact HumPAL for assistance in scheduling such a presentation at (707) 269-2055 or melanie@humpal.org.
Encourage District-wide participation in International Walk to School Day (IW2SD) events
In October, 2008 HumPAL, in collaboration with several Humboldt County schools, the City of Arcata, the Department of Public Health, Americorps, and others, is looking to create the most successful IW2SD to date in the county. Administrators can help guarantee success by lending support to this effort.
Teachers
Teachers at every grade level will find that there is a great deal of support and many well developed classroom materials available for incorporating walking, bicycling, and other transportation issues into their curriculum. Please see the Education and Encouragement section of this toolkit for elementary and middle school lesson plans and references to the California Standards or the High School materials section for the Standards and age appropriate materials.
Staff
Playground, cafeteria, after-school, and health staff (nurses, school psychologists) all have key roles to play in recognizing, encouraging and supporting the behaviors sought in children around active transportation and physical activity. Materials for creating safety programs and for encouraging children of all abilities to participate in contests and school wide events are included in the Education and Encouragement section of this toolkit.
The full inclusion and support of adjunct staff in school-wide events such as International Walk to School Day parades is frequently what guarantees their success.
Staff members often have responsibility for child safety at and near a school as bus drivers and crossing guards. There are support materials about crossing guards here.
School personnel as commuters
While all school staff have a distinct role in creating safe routes to Humboldt County schools for children, they also are all commuters with a full complement of professional and personal responsibilities which influence transportation choices. These choices happen not in a vacuum but in a community and are noted by children, who see the adults in their lives as role models, and by colleagues who may be seeking support to try something new or a bit more challenging when it comes to getting to work.
Information about Humboldt County transit is available at the Humboldt Transit Authority's webpage.
There are many resources available for those looking to try bicycle commuting, including safety information, helmet fitting, and wet weather tips. Secure bike parking, a private place to freshen up and change, and storage for a few toiletries or a change of clothes all make bicycle commuting more doable. School sites which currently lack such facilities may never have been asked to create them.
Carpooling, even a few days a week, can reduce congestion in and around a school as well as model a behavior parents are being encouraged to adopt. For an example of a free on-line carpool organizing tool, click here.
Walking directly to school, or to school from a bus stop, a remote drop off, or off site parking, can also provide for school staff all of the mental and physical health benefits delineated throughout this toolkit for children including fun, improved health, and great preparation for learning or teaching!