Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS)

Riley Elementary School:
The SRTS Plan for Riley Elementary in Macon has been completed. The Riley SRTS Plan can be viewed by clicking on the following link: Riley SRTS Plan. The Plan implementation process kicked off on August 6, 2008 at the Riley Back-to-School Round-up. At the Round-up, parents and their children received information on bicycle and pedestrian safety and talked to representatives from the Macon Police Department, Bibb County Board of Education Campus Police Department, the Bibb County Board of Education Central Office and the Middle Georgia RDC on how they could become involved in the Riley Elementary SRTS program.

At its first meeting of the year, the Riley PTO invited representatives from the Middle Georgia Clean Cities Coalition and the Bibb County Health Department to speak on the environmental and health benefits of the Safe Routes to School Program, respectively. An important note made during the presentation by the Health Department representative was the fact that there has been a significant increase in the incidences of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and strokes among school-age children due in large part to the lack of physical activity. The Health Department representative stated that the SRTS program can help with this problem by providing children with an important source of physical activity.

The Riley SRTS Team is currently making arrangements for the October 2nd Walk To School Event in celebration of International Walk to School Month. The festivities will include children and parents walking to school utilizing four walking school buses led by a SRTS Team member as the “bus driver” and carrying a banner developed by the Riley students. The students will be displaying a SRTS poster in which they made. Special guests from both state and local government have been invited to participate. Following the walk to school, there will be a rally in the school cafetorium featuring SRTS cheers and songs, remarks from the special guests, proclamations for International Walk to School Month, refreshments and giveaways.

New SRTS Plans
In FY 09, the Middle Georgia RDC is coordinating with the Bibb County Board of Education and its various community partners to develop two new Safe Routes to School Plans for Barden/Burghard Elementary Schools and Danforth Elementary/Appling Middle Schools.

At this time, the Barden SRTS Team has been formed. On September 9th, the SRTS Team held it organizational meeting where a briefing was given on the Georgia SRTS Program and the role of the SRTS Team. In addition, the date and agenda for the SRTS Parent/Neighborhood meeting was set.