PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
RESOLUTION 2005-06.13
ENDORSING THE SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP CONSENSUS STATEMENT
WHEREAS, Safe Routes to School is a national and international movement to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to school; and WHEREAS, Safe Routes to School programs provide a variety of important benefits to students and their communities, including improved health and fitness, reduced traffic congestion, better air quality, and enhanced neighborhood safety; and
WHEREAS, the Palo Alto Unified School District has a longstanding commitment to working with parents and the City of Palo Alto to enhance the safety of students on their way to and from school, and
WHEREAS, members of the City/School Liaison Committee have been meeting regularly since April 2004 with members of the local Safe Routes to School Community Task Force with the goal of creating and sustaining "a city/school/community partnership to reduce risk to students and to encourage more families to use alternatives to driving more often;" and WHEREAS, a Safe Routes to School National Partnership has been established and the Partnership has agreed upon a Consensus Statement; and
WHEREAS, the goals of the Partnership are to support the development and implementation of successful Safe Routes to School programs throughout the United States; and WHEREAS, the Executive Board of the Palo Alto Council of PTAs endorsed the National Safe Routes to School Partnership Consensus Statement on October 6, 2005; and WHEREAS, at their meeting on January 25, 2006, members of the City/School Liaison Committee recommended that the City Council and the School Board endorse this Consensus Statement.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that this board does hereby endorse the attached Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement as a means to encourage the continued collaboration of City, School District and community partners in their efforts to reduce risk for students and to encourage more families to use alternatives to driving to school more often.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY: the Board of Education of Palo Alto Unified School District this 14th day of February 2006 by the following vote:
AYES: Lowell, Townsend, Mitchell, Price, Tom
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
1, Mary Frances Callan, Clerk of the Governing Board of the Palo Alto Unified School District of Santa Clara County, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a full, true, and correct copy of a resolution adopted by the Board at a meeting thereof held at its regular place of meeting on the date shown above and by the vote above stated, which resolution is on file in the office of said.
Board.
Date: 2.14.2006 Signed: _ Hey Due faile
RESOLUTION NO. 8590
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO
ALTO ENDORSING THE SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP CONSENSUS STATEMENT
WHEREAS, Safe Routes to School is a national and
international movement to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to school; and WHEREAS, Safe Routes to School programs provide a
variety of important benefits to students and their communities, including improved health and fitness, reduced traffic
congestion, better air quality and enhanced neighborhood safety; and
WHEREAS, Policy T-40 of the City's Comprehensive Plan
affirms that the city will "Continue to prioritize the safety and comfort of school children in street modification projects that affect school travel routes; " and
WHEREAS, members of the City/School Liaison Committee
have been meeting regularly since April 2004 with members of the local Safe Routes to School Community Task Force with the goal of creating and sustaining "a city/school/community partnership to reduce risk to students and to encourage more families to use alternatives to driving more often;" and
WHEREAS, a Safe Routes to School National Partnership
has been established and the Partnership has agreed upon a Consensus Statement; and
WHEREAS, the goals of the Partnership are to support the development and implementation of successful Safe Routes to School programs throughout the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Executive Board of the Palo Alto Council of PTAs endorsed the National Safe Routes to School Partnership Consensus Statement on October 12, 2005; and
WHEREAS, at their meeting on January 25, 2006, members
of the City/School Liaison Committee recommended that the City Council and the School Board endorse this Consensus Statement. 060315 sm 0100430
1 NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto
does RESOLVE as follows:
SECTION 1. The Council does hereby endorse the attached Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement as means to encourage the continued collaboration of City, School District and community partners in their efforts to reduce risk for students and encourage more families to use alternatives to driving to school more often.
SECTION 2. The Council finds that this is not a
project under the California Environmental Quality Act and, therefore, no environmental impact assessment is necessary.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED: February 06, 2006
AYES: BARTON, BEECHAM, CORDELL, DREKMEIER, KISHIMOTO, KLEIN,
KLEINBERG, MORTON, MOSSAR
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
Donxa 8. Rozers
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
Herest
fr Sr. Asst. City Attorney City Manager
ashesushe
Director of Planning &
Community Environment
Director of ministrative
Services
060322 sm 0100430 2
Attachment
Safe Routes to School National Partnership Consensus Statement We believe it is time for a change.
The Problem
In the last 30 years we have seen a loss of mobility among our nation's children that has severely impacted their personal health and their ability to explore their neighborhoods, even by walking or biking to school.
Consider these facts:
Within the span of a single generation, the number of children walking and school. (CDC)
• There are more than three times as many overweight children today as there were 25 years ago. (CDC, NHANES II!
• As much as 20 to 30% of morning rush hour traffic can be parents driving children to schools. (Data from local communities)
These problems are all related to the fact that many communities lack basic infrastructure-sidewalks, bike lanes, trails, pathways, and crosswalks-and are no longer designed to encourage or allow children to walk and bicycle safely. Concerns about traffic, crime, and other obstacles keep children strapped in the back seat of cars, which further adds to the traffic on the road and pollution in the air.
The Solution
Communities around the country are organizing Safe Routes to School programs, which have a common goal to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children to walk and bicycle to and from school like their parents did. While each program is unique, the programs have common objectives to:
• Encourage students, families, and school staff to be physically active by walking and bicycling more often.
• Make streets, sidewalks, pathways, trails, and crosswalks safe, convenient, and attractive for walking and bicycling to school.
• Ensure that streets around schools have an adequate number of safe places to cross and that there is safe and convenient access into the school building from adjacent sidewalks.
• Keep driving speeds slow near schools, on school routes, and at school crossings. • Enforce all traffic laws near schools, on school routes, and in other areas of high pedestrian and bicycle activity.
• Locate schools within walking and bicycling distance of as many students as possible.
Reduce the amount of traffic around schools.
• Use trails, pathways, and non-motorized corridors as travel routes to schools. • Provide secure bicycle parking at schools.
• Teach traffic safety skills routinely in school.
Every community is unique, so every Safe Routes to School program must respond differently. Successful programs include some combination or all of the following approaches to improve conditions for safe walking and bicycling:
• Encouragement - Using events and activities to promote walking and bicycling. • Education - Teaching children about the broad range of transportation choices, instructing them in important lifelong safety skills, and launching driver safety campaigns.
• Engineering - Creating operational and physical improvements to the infrastructure surrounding schools, reducing speeds, and establishing safer crosswalks and pathways.
• Enforcement - Partnering with local law enforcement to ensure drivers obey traffic laws, and initiating community enforcement such as crossing guard programs.
• Evaluation - Monitoring and researching outcomes and trends through the collection of data.
The Partnership
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is comprised of multiple constituencies at the local, state, and national levels. It includes:
• Parents
Students
Educators
Government officials
Business leaders
Community groups
Advocates for bicycling and walking
Law enforcement officers
Transportation, urban planning, engineering, and health professionals • Health, conservation, and safety advocates
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership works to support the development and implementation of programs by:
• Setting goals for successful implementation.
Sharing information with all interested parties.
Working to secure funding resources for Safe Routes to Schools programs. • Providing policy input to implementing agencies.
• Providing training and resource materials to assist communities in starting a Safe Routes to School program.
• Illustrating the cost effectiveness of Safe Routes to School programs. • Providing a unified voice for Safe Routes to School.
Through forming the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, we call on you to join us in giving children back the sense of freedom and responsibility that comes from walking or bicycling to and from school. Together, we can again provide children with the opportunity to know their neighborhoods enjoy fresh air and arrive at school alert, refreshed and ready to start the day. As partners in the Safe Routes to Schools National Partnership, we are transforming children's lives and their communities.