THOUSAND OAKS CITY COUNCIL
THOUSAND
CALIFORMIA
Supplemental
Information
Packet
Agenda Related i ra Meete of reary, 202, 2023
5:00 p.m.
Supplemental Information:
City's website at toaks.org/agendas or by contacting the City Clerk Dept at (805) 449-2151 during normal busi- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):
n compliance with the ADA, if vou need special assistance to participate in this meeting or other services il onjunction with this meeting, please contact the City Clerk Department at (805) 449-2151. Assisted listenin devices are available at this meeting. Ask City Clerk staff if you desire to use this device. Upon request, the agenda and documents in this agenda packet, can be made available in appropriate alternative formats to persons with a disability. Notification at least 48 hours prior to the meeting or time when services are needed will assist City staff in assuring reasonable arrangements can be made to provide accessibility to the meeting THE FOLLOWING 4
PAGES ARE RELATED TO
ITEMS 10.B.
From: Autum Sasala <[email protected]>
Date: February 7, 2023 at 11:26:52 AM PST
To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Al Adam <[email protected]>, Mikey Taylor <[email protected]>
Subject: Crossing Guards
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
I'm writing today because I saw there's an upcoming vote as to what schools are at risk of permanently losing their crossing guards. I believe none of our schools should be without proper protection for kids walking and riding bikes to school but Banyan is the school 1 am familiar with first hand since it's the school my 3 children attended and one is still enrolled at.
We live in one of the neighborhoods adjacent to the Banyan neighborhood, less than a mile away. To walk we have to deal with very fast and busy traffic along Lynn Road during the morning commute. I am not the only parent who choses to drive the short distance because we don't feel allowing our children to ride bikes to school is safe. The neighborhood directly across Lynn Rd. from the school has the same issue as my neighborhood and I know many kids who live there who have stopped walking or riding bikes to school since there is no longer a crossing guard at Lynn and Knollwood. Even though Banyan is on the list as at risk of losing their only crossing guard in the future, truth is we lost it mid year last school year and have not had one back since. Once the guard was gone, families stopped walking because there is no longer adequate safety measures for kids to cross Lynn Rd. A road that people zip through the crosswalks without so much as a pause on their morning commute.
Last year we had a young student decide to walk back home in the morning and cross at Lynn alone without a guard there. Thankfully a driver saw him and stopped, blocking other traffic from driving and allowed the child time to cross. Having a guard would ensure that child didn't cross alone at all. Imagine, if that one car didn't stop and block traffic. Small children aren't visible enough on their own for drivers to always see in time.
A few days ago I was driving home after picking up my high school kids. We were at the light at Reino and Kimber (two elementary schools are along Kimber Road) a young girl on her bike was waiting at the light to cross. The light changed for her and as she left the sidewalk and began to ride across the crosswalk a car came up beside me, began to turn right and bumped into her with his bumper. Not hard enough to hurt her, but enough for her to lose her balance and have to catch herself with her feet and walk her bike away from the car. She was wearing a backpack and the timing was right for her to be on her way home from school. Thankfully she wasn't hurt but it could have gone a very different way.
Instead she got back on the bike and rode home, to parents who probably have no idea how close their child was to being seriously harmed on her way home from school that day.
CVUSD makes safety and accessibility a priority every day for students. There are safety drills, staff training, and countless protocols in place to ensure every student has a safe and accessible place to learn. Crossing guards may be looked at by some as a school issue, but crossing guards don't work within the confines of our local campuses. They have the very distinct and important task of keeping intersections leading to the schools safe for students to use. Currently the city isn't doing its part to help ensure every kid can get to school in a safe and accessible way. By not having crossing guards it leaves students without transportation no other option but to cross those busy streets alone. Crossing guards are a simple solution with literal lifesaving impacts. Our roads are busy, not having crossing guards compounds the problem with more parents driving to schools, that are well within easy walking distances, because it's not safe to do otherwise. It unnecessarily fills the school neighborhoods and streets with extra traffic as cars line up to get into tiny school parking lots.
I've heard a lot of talk from city council and residents of our city over the last few years about "not becoming the valley when we're discussing city growth. We live in an area where we relish our outdoor spaces and that we have the ability to hike and bike in open areas. Wouldn't it be nice if we also gave that back to our neighborhoods? Crossing guards can be a stepping stone to less traffic and safer accessibility for all students to school. Please reconsider taking the few crossing guards we have away and please make it a priority getting them back to the campuses who have already lost them.
Thank you for your time.
Autum Sasala
2 On Feb 6, 2023, at 4:19 PM, Caroline E. Wallace <[email protected]> wrote:
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear City Councilors,
I am writing today because our family does not support any funding cuts for crossing guards across our Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) school sites. Our children, and all pedistrians of Thousand Oaks deserve cross guards at CVUSD schools to ensure their safety and well being are maintained. CVUSD school children are the pride and joy of this community and our future voters and city council members. We must do everything to protect them so they can safely arrive and exit their learning environments. Thusly, we expect you to adequately fund and staff cross guards at all CVUSD school sites.
Kindly,
The Wallace Family
Thousand Oaks
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
On Feb 7, 2023, at 9:08 PM, Lynn A. Salvati < [email protected]> wrote:
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Mayor and Councilmen,
I've come to learn that during an upcoming city council meeting there will be an agenda item regarding the number of cross guards near CVUSD schools. I'm surprised this topic is being contemplated because our children's safety is paramount. While financing can be a complex challenge, our children's safety is not. All schools must have cross guards present during peak times to ensure public safety. This is non-negoitable. Fund an adeuate number of guards, nothing is more important.
Sincerely,
Lynn Salvati Smith, PhD
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
4