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Schools in Barnegat say to walk this way
District tries out safe routes to, from school
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BARNEGAT TOWNSHIP - As a line of school buses pulled out of the parking lot Monday, a group of students from the Cecil S. Collins Elementary School came outside to try a new method of transportation: walking.
Barnegat is the latest school district in the region to try to increase the number of students who walk to school every day, aiming to improve child health, save money on busing and protect the environment from greenhouse gases.
On Monday, a few dozen students from the Collins school and its neighbor the Russell O. Brackman Middle School walked to and from the buildings as a test for what the district hopes to eventually implement at each of its six schools.
"The goal of this program can bring a wide range of benefits to students and the community," read a letter to parents by George Chidiac, principal at the Joseph T. Donahue School and administrative representative on the district's Safe Routes to School committee. "These include an easy way for children to get the regular physical activity they need for good health, ease traffic congestion and reduce pollution around the schools."
As the crowd of students walked across the Barnegat Boulevard crosswalk to their neighborhoods, Chidiac said the day went well and feedback from it will be used as the district develops a plan over the
summer.
"We'll use a survey from the parents, administrative feedback and teacher feedback and then take it from there," he said.
Barnegat's situation is similar to many school districts - in the region and across the country. Its schools were built for motor vehicle transportation, not pedestrians, which is why half its schools lack sidewalks and crosswalks necessary for the school to safely promote walking.
The one school that has plenty of close access to homes and sidewalks is the Lillian M. Dunfee school, where about 95 percent of the student population walks, said Rafael Adorno, the committee's Board of Education liaison.
"Nothing can be done until we can provide for the safety of the children first," Adorno said, which is why the committee will have to examine engineering studies and build sidewalks to promote walking at the other schools.
The money for the sidewalks and other infrastructure could come from the state's Safe Routes to School Program, which has funded similar projects throughout the country and southern New Jersey.
On Friday, the committee will meet to discuss the results from Monday's trial, and then continue to study the potential for allowing its students to get to school the same way their grandparents did.
E-mail Lee Procida:
On the Web
For more information, visit:
www.state.nj.us/transportation/
community/srts/nhts.ornl.gov
Posted in Ocean on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 3:10 am
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