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Home Safety Guidelines and Standards
Risk Management |
Safe Routes to School (SR2S)Background - Less than 40 years ago, walking and biking to school were commonplace - in 1969, roughly half of all 5 to 18 year olds either walked or biked to school. Times have changed, and today, nearly 90% of our youth are driven to school either by bus or individual car. This change in transportation mode has added to traffic congestion, a reduction in air quality and the deterioration of our children's health. As much as 27 percent of the country's morning traffic is made up of parents driving their children to school.
Safe Routes to School (SR2S) Program - SR2S is a new federally funded grant program managed through the Colorado Department of Transportation. It takes a community approach to encourage and enable more people to walk and bike to school safely. It’s about getting kids out of cars and onto their feet and bikes. It’s also about making car, bus, and transit routes safe for our kids who can’t walk and bike to school. SR2S does this primarily by identifying the safest routes from children’s homes to their school and by pointing out route problems for local agencies to investigate to determine potential improvement measures. By combining the "4E's" (education, enforcement, engineering, and encouragement), SR2S provides a comprehensive approach to school traffic safety problems.
Examples of the types of projects that might be funded include:
Grant Funding is Available to DPS Schools
Is your school is experiencing traffic safety issues before and after school? Are you and your school community (staff/parents/neighborhood) willing to work together to help resolve these safety issues?
In 2006, the City and County of Denver (in partnership with DPS) applied for and received funding for infrastructure improvements (pedestrian refuge islands and/or sidewalks) at 3 DPS elementary schools: Mitchell, Valdez and University Park.
DPS Risk Management has partnered with the Denver Osteopathic Foundation to develop an education program to help DPS students walk and bike to school safely. In 2006, DPS received a grant for projects at Ellis and Southmoor Elementary Schools. In addition to receiving the education program, these schools are working to resolve traffic safety issues specific to their schools. The 2007 Grant Applications for Safe Routes to School (SR2S) were due December 29, 2006. The following schools were selected for the grant application: Edison, Force, Sabin and Slavens Elementary Schools. In May, the Colorado Department of Transportation awarded 2007 SR2S grants to DPS for Edison, Force Sabin and Slavens. Grant programs will be implemented during the 2007-2008 school year.
Other organizations also partnered with DPS elementary schools and were awarded 2007 SR2S grants to provide programs to encourage walking and biking to school.
Would you like your school to be considered for a 2008 Safe Routes to School grant (deadline: December 2007), or would you like more information? Please contact Debbie Beck in Risk Management at (720) 423-3832 or e-mail Debbie_Beck@dpsk12.org. Additional Information Available at:
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