HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-07-STAS-min Ad Hoc School Transportation and Safety Study Committee
March 7, 2013 at 9am
Conference Room, Central Administration Blg
Meeting Minutes
1 Attending Judy Crocker, Elaine Cell (LPS Transportation), MaryEllen Dunn (Asst
Superintendent),Manny Ferro (LPD), Craig Weeks
Guest: Bonnie Brown, Shannon Maloney
2 Meeting minutes were not ready to be reviewed
3 Communication Strategy re Real-time Events
There have been a few recent incidents involving school transportation that have
been brought to the attention of this Committee and LPS These have included the
March 1 school bus accident, a LexEngage Flexpass question, and parent
correspondence As a point of clarification, LPS handles any matters that involve
LPS services Sidewalk Committee and SRTS volunteers generally handle
community correspondence directed to SRTS and will include LPS if a specific
school bus or service is mentioned
4 Feedback from School Committee Feb 26 Presentation
a) Ms. Dunn presented the TSAC proposal of sign codification on school property.
Included in the discussion was the concept of the SC as property owners and
used detailed maps of Bridge, Bowman, and Hastings as examples TSAC
member Cpt. Ferro also fielded questions. The SC unanimously voted on specific
sign codification at these schools,thus allowing for their police enforcement
Prior to this, police did not have the jurisdiction to enforce these rules on school
property.
TSAC will make a similar presentation for specific sign codification in August for
the remaining district schools.
Cpt Ferro discussed with STS how these posted traffic signs would be enforced
on school property. Under Chapter 84,the SC can enforce certain civil laws on
school property However, any posted traffic sign must
meetMUTCDrequirements TSAC examined the signage at 3 schools and made
recommendations for their compliance and improved efficiency. Now that the
SC has voted,violators will be able to be pursued once these improvements are
made
Marc Valenti of DPW is working with Ms Dunn to include the MAPC School
Zone Grant consultant to review traffic patterns on school property This expert
will ensure proper compliance and will make a third party SC presentation with
their findings The results should prove to be educational for both the SC and
Facilities As these actions are part of the planning and policy objectives of the
SC, Ms Dunn will be asking for consultant funding Ms Dunn will also propose
an increase in the Facilities budget in order to sustain these recommendations.
Cpt Ferro expressed police concern over speed limit enforcement on school
property. None of the school properties is large, and speed studies would have
to be conducted involving the Dept of Transportation These studies could work
to lessen enforcement penalties on school grounds Driving to endanger, which
carries criminal applications, is a harsher penalty than a speeding ticket.
Engineering will be reviewing intersections around the schools by using
cameras to count vehicles and the direction of their traffic. TSAC will use this
data to make its recommendations
b) Ms Crocker provided the SRTS and STS part of the SC presentation There was no
discussion on what was presented by SC members except for a suggestion by
Ms Stewart to have administration and parents work together Because of this
lack of response to the STS recommendations, Ms Crocker will try to schedule
individual meetings with the SC members to ensure that they fully understand
the STS proposed suggestions,the concept of the SC as property owners In
addition, STS will make an addendum to its agenda for its Part II presentation to
include a full discussion of these points
5. SC and BoS Update Presentations
On March 11, a streamlined STS Part I and II presentation will be made to the
Board of Selectmen TSAC member Dave Cannon will present the sign codification
of street signage near the Bridge, Bowman, and Hastings Schools.
On March 20, Part II of the STS presentation will be made It will focus on having an
engaged conversation with School Committee members regarding the
recommendations STS made on Feb 26 as well as including the bus registration and
marketing update
6 March Calendar
• The process of instituting online school bus registration is ongoing between
LPS and the vendor The start date for bus registration cannot be
determined until the online registration installation is complete Ms Dunn
reviewed this service improvement with the PTA President's Council during
their March meeting
• Bus registration fliers will be distributed on LexEngage,the Town website,
and to the four apartment complexes where the majority of the distance-
eligible students reside Ms Cetus working with the LPS Print Shop to
produce the fliers and posters.
• March 21 All-Town Kindergarten Orientation will include a table hosted by
Ms. Celi and assisted by Ms. Kendall. Ms. Celi contributed an informational
slide to the evening's powerpoint presentation and will be distributing
special Kindergarten bus transportation fliers to the assembled parents
• Safe Routes To School car counts will be completed in March. Parent cars on
school property have not been counted since Spring 2011
• The Colonial Times article deadline for bus registration is March 22 and
Lexfunnewsletter deadline is March 27
• The question of whether or not to request the Town's electronic signboard to
publicize the final week of school bus registration was discussed It was
decided that the board's purpose is better fitted to identify weather events
and road conditions.
• The proposed location of the STS sandwich board during the FY14 school bus
registration was examined. It was decided that the board was most effective
on the lawn in front of Cary Hall, as it was in 2012, rather than on LHS or
Central Administration property The Town's manager's office will be
contacted in order to obtain the second year permit.
7 Discussion of"Kiss and Ride"Concept
Continuing the discussion of the concept behind "it is a privilege to enter school
property,"a method of engaging driver's responsibility and accountability in use in
the DC area is a contract made between the school, parents and students These
schools and public transit areas established a "Kiss and Ride" area dedicated for
active drop-off and pick-up These areas are identified as a safe area for adults in
private vehicles to load and unload students and are separate from the school bus
area and pedestrian traffic patterns
This model could be used at the schools and identified remote drop-off areas
Committee members had trouble with the name of the program but agreed with its
premise "Stop, Drop, and Roll" or another similarly descriptive and catchy title
would be needed
8 New Business
Changing the name of the after-school destination program was discussed as the
bus registration fliers will be printed soon It was felt that a shorter, catchy term
might be easier to promote The Committee agreed with Ms Brown's suggestion of
"Elementary Ride After"program.
Cpt Ferro informed the Committee that crossing guards perform student counts 3-
4 times per school year and would be conducting a count later this month. Counts
are conducted for one week periods at both school arrival and dismissal Lt Barry
oversees this function
On May 9 of Lexington's Bike Walk'N Bus Week, Ms Cell will be hosting a School
Bus Open House from 1 30-4pm C&W Transportation has graciously allowed the
use of a parked bus in order to promote bus registration. Parents, students, and
siblings will be able to explore the bus and ask questions The timing will coincide
with Safe Routes To School's Parcourse Exploration which is located between
WorthenRd, Lincoln Fields, and Middleby Rd.A few location suggestions for the
bus were discussed, including parked near the Hayden lower field fence on
Worthen Rd, inside the Lincoln Fields parking lot, or at the Bridge School. Ms.
Maloney said that students love to walk around the vehicles and this is promoted
during"Touch a Truck" events Cpt Ferro also felt more comfortable if the bus was
in a parking lot.
Our next meeting will be April 4, 2013 at 9am in the Conference Room at Central
Administration.
Respectively submitted,
Judy Crocker