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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-02-14-STAS-min Ad Hoc School Transportation and Safety Study Committee February 14, 2013 at 9am Conference Room, Central Administration Blg Meeting Minutes 1 Attending Judy Crocker, Elaine Dratch, MaryEllen Dunn (Asst Superintendent),Sharon Kendall, Deb Mauger (BoS),Jessie Steigerwald (SC), Craig Weeks Guest Bonnie Brown 2. Meeting minutes were not ready to be reviewed. 3 School Bus Registration Communicating the designated bus registration period along with maintaining and/or increasing ridership will be key Changes for FY14 were discussed These include online registration, fee structure and deadlines,the need for designated elementary school captains to help with dismissal of after-school destination students, and marketing Improved communication with principals, staff and school captains is also needed It is also hoped that the combination of these measures will result in a more orderly August and September Marketing should be early, loud and clear. Ms. Cell will design a new bus registration flier that will include a streamlined fee schedule PR will include a cable ad, reaching out to the management of the apartment complexes where the majority of the distance eligible students reside, possible use of the LPD electronic message board, and re-examining the distribution of a LPD/public safety letter Better use of the Colonial Times, Patch, and the Minuteman were also mentioned A draft calendar of proposed bus registration marketing was distributed. The question of needing a permission slip for the elementary after-school program was dismissed because the same information is received on the registration form as would be on this document. A draft school transportation PR calendar was distributed Part of the solution for increased bus ridership and improved bus efficiencies will to obtain school buy-in A long-term commitment for valuing walkers and bussers is needed from the nine schools, School Committee, and Superintendent. A brief discussion involved targeting certain schools that have unusually high or acute traffic issues. These include Bridge, Clarke, Diamond, Estabrook, and Fiske. 4 School Zone Grant Safe Routes to School and DPW have been awarded a Metropolitan Area Planning Council grant of$6,800 for the spring of 2013 The grant will provide funding for an outside consultant to evaluate and make recommendations for Lexington's 8 school zones regarding posted signage and pavement markings The grant also expects that all local Grade K-8 schools will be a Safe Routes partner school Presently, all Lexington schools enjoy the benefits of the Massachusetts partnership except for Harrington The consultant will begin work this spring once the snow is gone and the study recommendations will be completed before the end of June Once the study is in hand, its recommendations will be taken under advisement Implementation of any improvements will depend on future funding. 5 School Handbooks and Websites This Committee is aware that current school handbooks and websites are inconsistent and conflicting in identifyingstudent attendance policy and procedures and in listing information about school hours Ms Kendall agreed todocument their differences 6 "Kiss and Ride" Concept Part of the conversation in deterring parents from driving onto school property is to make this more difficult Schools need to have consequences if the privilege to drive onto school property is abused This concept is not unique to Lexington Parent and student contracts and application materials from the Orange Hunt Elementary School in Springfield,VA were partially discussed ad will be further reviewed by Committee members 7 New Business a) STS is waiting for the School Committeeto schedule the TSAC and STS presentations, after which the Board of Selectmen presentation can be scheduled To date,tentative times include TSAC at SC for Feb 26, STS at SC on March 12, and STS at BoS on Feb 25. bl Bus cameras will be installed on LPS school buses over the February vacation week in order to help with bus discipline issues and security. The cost of this contractual item will be a discounted $40,000 Three cameras will be added to each bus one in the front, one to the rear, and one facing the main door Drivers will receive training on their use. The cameras work on a continuous loop feed which tapes over itself with time Drivers will be able to use a flag button to highlight a certain point on the tape The cameras do no use real time GPS c) Traffic Week is being promoted in early March at Bridge and Bowman with the help of the school principals, staff, and SRTS d) The Complete Streets Workshop sponsored by MAPC and Lexington's Dept of Engineering was attended by Mr Weeks on Feb 7 It was noted that no one from Facilities representing the schools attended Mr Weeks obtained information he thought useful for the school system regarding the physical layout of schools He will supply Ms Dunn with the information Our next meeting will be March 7, 2013 at 9am in the Conference Room at Central Administration. Respectively submitted, Judy Crocker