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M I N U T E S Safe Routes to School Committee Meeting February 12, 2013 3:15 P.M. The Safe Routes to School Committee met during a regular meeting on February 12, 2013 at 3:15 p.m., at Ladera Elementary School, 308 East 35th St., Farmington, New Mexico. Present: Coordinator: Anngela Wakan Committee Joe Delmagori June Markle Duane Wakan Members Principal Gary Jackson Officer Kurt Jemmett Committee Absent: Steve Krest Sergeant Dave Monfils Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:15 p.m. by Anngela Wakan and the following proceedings were duly had and taken. Mrs. Wakan asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the December 11, 2012 meeting. Mr. Wakan moved to approve the minutes and Mr. Delmagori seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. REPORTS FROM PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Ladera and McKinley Mrs. Wakan attended the PTO meeting held on January 15. There was one parent who volunteered to assist Mrs. Wakan in teaching bicycle and pedestrian safety. These safety presentations will be made to the older grades. Principal Jackson said he would pass along any information to the teachers in an effort to generate interest and find additional volunteers. Mrs. Wakan said she had not heard from Sgt. Monfils on whether he had received the stop signs for use by 5th grade student crossing guards. She commented that Sgt. Monfils had planned on training interested students around the first of February. Principal Jackson said Ladera might have some interest in using students as crossing guards on 38th Street. He said there was a crossing guard at the intersection of 38th Street and Dustin, but a sidewalk on school grounds allows students to bypass the crossing guard. Principal Jackson stated that the school has their own stop signs and Mrs. Wakan said she has safety vests she could provide to the school. Mrs. Wakan will ask Sgt. Monfils to speak with Principal Jackson about the possibility of using students as crossing guards at Ladera and then getting those volunteers trained. ---PAGE BREAK--- Mrs. Wakan said she has had a parent volunteer to assist with teaching pedestrian and bike safety at the school. Additionally, there was some interest in implementing a walking school bus. Mr. Jackson asked if there had been any volunteers to help establish a walking school bus for Ladera. Mrs. Wakan said no one had volunteered initially. She stated that establishing a walking school bus can take a year before all the ground work has been completed. Mr. Jackson commented that he believed walking school buses would be a great idea for Ladera coming from neighborhoods both at the north and south of the school. Officer Jemmett agreed that with the number of students walking to school, a walking school bus would be very successful. Mrs. Wakan will be working to complete the walking school bus training, share information, and determine interest and support over the next year. Along with the walking school bus, Mrs. Wakan would like to start a Walk Across America campaign next school year. This is a challenge to encourage students to walk and bike as much as possible and have their teachers track their progress across a map of the United States. Mrs. Wakan said there would be prizes and incentives along the course of the campaign with possibly a pool party at the end of the challenge for all those students who participated. Following the success of Mesa Verde’s “no cell phone zone”, Mrs. Wakan will speak with Principal Dexel to gauge their interest in one at McKinley. Mesa Verde Mrs. Wakan said the “no cell phone zone” kick-off and final assembly went very well with numerous elected officials in attendance. She thanked all those who were instrumental in getting the program off the ground for the school. Mrs. Wakan asked Officer Jemmett to thank Sgt. Monfils on behalf of SRTS for the strong police attendance at the assembly. She commented that for the future, the actual “Children Come Before Phones” sign be featured in the ribbon cutting and, where possible, an announcement of the program be posted on the school’s marquee. The group discussed potential enforcement actions for drivers observed using their cell phones in one of the “no cell phone” zones. Officer Jemmett said actual enforcement is limited. An officer may cite a motorist for misuse of an electronic device if it is in conjunction with a moving violation. Mrs. Wakan thought seeking a city ordinance about the use of cell phones while driving might be a goal for the SRTS committee to pursue. Mrs. Wakan said she planned to teach bike/pedestrian safety to students at the school sometime before the week of spring break which is March 4-7. The training would teach students how to wear a helmet, and the basics of how to cross the street. As School Resource Officers (SRO), Officer Jemmett commented that he and Officer Kris Chavez have taught several bike rodeos. Both of them are certified bike trainers. He stated they teach the children about the bike parts, bicycling safety, and the use of helmets. The training usually lasts about 2-3 hours. Officer Jemmett said that Conoco- Phillips has been their partner in these classes and has provided needed repair work on the bikes. He added that Cottonwood Cycles might volunteer some people to help with bike repairs at a SRTS bike rodeo. ---PAGE BREAK--- Mrs. Wakan reported that she and Pat Cordell hope to coordinate a bike rodeo at Mesa Verde on May 3. This date coincides with the International Bike to School Day on May 8. Apache Elementary Mrs. Wakan asked about ways to engage the parents and teachers at Apache Elementary. Mr. Delmagori asked if Apache’s health council still met. She has asked the school about their health and wellness group, but there have been no meetings to date. Mrs. Wakan hopes to increase the school’s involvement in SRTS. ENGINEERING Mr. Krest was not present at the meeting. Mr. Delmagori reported that SRTS had been awarded another $250,000 in infrastructure funding. Part of that money will be to install sidewalks on the east side of Hutton Avenue from Animas Elementary School to 20th Street, and for McCormick Elementary on Hydro Plant Road from Ivie Avenue to McCormick School Road. He added that an additional $25,000 in non-infrastructure funding was also awarded and will be used for SRTS activities. ENFORCEMENT Sgt. Monfils was not present at the meeting. Officer Jemmett said that there had been special traffic enforcement projects at several schools over the past few weeks. He added that he had noticed fewer drivers parking in the red zone areas at Ladera recently and thought that might be due to an increased police presence. EVALUATION Mr. Delmagori said that every spring and fall the MPO counted students as they arrived for school to determine how many walked, rode their bikes, rode the bus, or were dropped off by parents. The MPO counts students at two SRTS schools one week and at the other two SRTS schools the following week. Mr. Delmagori said that about eight volunteers are needed each week for the counts. Five of those volunteers usually come from MPO staff and Steve Krest and his traffic technician. Mr. Delmagori said the student counts typically take place in April when the mornings begin to warm up. The Committee discussed this year’s schedule and decided to count at McKinley and Apache on April 9, 10 and 11, and at Mesa Verde and Ladera on April 23, 24, and 25. Mr. Wakan has requested some student population data from the school district in order to assist in designing maps to show where elementary school students reside and their walking distance to school. This information will assist in developing the walking school bus program. The school district is in the process of updating their database and said they should be able to provide the requested information in several weeks. EDUCATION Mrs. Wakan said the International Bike to School Day is Wednesday, May 8, 2013. At next month’s meeting, Mrs. Wakan would like to discuss hosting a bike rodeo and also review a training manual on how to organize and sponsor a bike clinic. Mrs. Wakan stated there is a 40-page manual on how to prepare and host a bike clinic available online at With Mr. Cordell’s ---PAGE BREAK--- coordination, SRTS Committee support, and 10-20 volunteers, she hopes SRTS can put this clinic together this spring. Promoting SRTS Mrs. Wakan said SRTS will soon be on the City of Farmington’s website and she hopes to hire a media specialist who will design advertising to promote SRTS in the community and help to gather local support. Officer Jemmett suggested including training to students on stranger danger along with the walking and biking safety. He recommended specifically addressing what to do and how to respond should a student be approached by a stranger or someone they are unsure of. Partnership Brainstorming Mrs. Wakan said that being new to San Juan County and to the SRTS Coordinator position she has noticed that many agencies and groups pull in their own direction instead of working together. She would like to encourage more cooperation and teamwork among SRTS and other organization around Farmington and the county. Mrs. Wakan compiled a list of some potential partnering possibilities. The Committee discussed their thoughts and ideas: Organization Contact SRTS Contact How can they help SRTS? How can SRTS assist them? Parks and Rec Shauna Reeves Promotion at events; Sycamore Park Natalie Sprouell A place with lots of kids Teach classes; possibly hold bike rodeo there Aquatic Center Billy Inskeep Prizes for events… San Juan College Marcia Penn Volunteers for events and/or walking school bus… Give their students serving/volunteer opportunities… San Juan County Kids Shawtay Wolf Promote dates in fliers; events – Kids Fest Library Children’s Librarian: David Florez? Friends of the library… Promote our events, link to the community portion of their website; Walk to School or Walk to Library day event (Northeast, and Hermosa) with learning fair at the library to follow? Museums Cheri, Adrian, Larry Promote events, partner with on new events: Walk to school, walk to the museum day? (Apache) San Juan Regional Medical Center Sandi Grunwaldt Promote events; Committee member; Promote healthy life choices via walking ---PAGE BREAK--- Boys and Girls Club They have a marquee and an audience; 2 locations (Sullivan & Troy King) They need mentors… Middle School and High School Student Councils Use their local drama dept; Make Walk to School Day big with their help Chamber of Commerce (work with merchants) Historical Society Scavenger hunt for middle school age kids in downtown Combine love of history with walk to school event PTO’s United Way Health focused Mrs. Wakan said she had spoken with the City of Farmington about the possibility of having donations from the 5K Turkey Trot held in November donated to SRTS now that the animal shelter, which was the previous recipient, has been funded and is under construction. Mrs. Wakan would like to use any donations to purchase bikes, helmets, and training material for bike rodeos. Officer Jemmett noted that after the initial purchase of equipment, there continue to be costs associated with maintenance and upkeep of the equipment. Officer Jemmett explained a week-long event put on by the Police Department SROs. Safety Days is a series of safety classes for 1st and 2nd graders where the SROs teach bicycle and walking safety, how to use 911, and more. He recommended speaking with the SRO Lead Coordinator, Michele Delese, on the possibility of SRTS partnering with the Police Department on this event. Mr. Delmagori stated he had made a presentation to the San Juan College Student Senate and noted that all the clubs on campus had members on the Senate. There was a wellness group that was represented. He thought there might be service opportunities for SRTS with some of the groups. He mentioned Marcia Sterling-Penn would be an initial point of contact. Goals Mrs. Wakan reviewed her goals for the SRTS Program: • Revisit the Action Plan for each school. o Mr. Delmagori said the summer months provided a good opportunity to discuss each of the schools’ action plans. • Contact other school’s PTO’s to share SRTS and encourage parental participation. • 2013 – Two bike rodeos are on the books; one community-wide one this spring prior to the International Walk/Bike to School Day; Mr. Cordell to coordinate. • 2013 – Walk Across America challenge at participating schools. ---PAGE BREAK--- After discussion, the next SRTS Committee meeting will be on March 18 at 3:30 p.m. at McKinley Elementary. The April meeting is scheduled for April 9 at 3:30 p.m. at Mesa Verde Elementary. Mrs. Wakan adjourned the meeting at 4:15 p.m.