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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-04-STAS-min Ad Hoc School Transportation and Safety Study Committee April 4, 2013 at 9am Conference Room, Central Administration Blg Meeting Minutes 1 Attending Judy Crocker, Elaine Celi (LPS Transportation), Elaine Dratch, Sharon Kendall,Jessie Steigerwald (SC liaison), Craig Weeks Guest: Bonnie Brown 2 Meeting minutes for Jan 3, 17, Feb 14, and March 7 were amended and accepted 3 Update on Bus Registration Registration for FY14 is officially opens April 5 It is important to note that while student registration has 3 set dates with 3 different price points, payments are not due until August 1 It was suggested that a post-it type word bubble be added to all promotional posters in order to highlight this point Ms Dratch would also like to have posters available for the Lexpress office and if possible, on the buses It was proposed to change the sandwich board's thermometer scale from 0-100% to 0-60% Also, Ms Steigerwald would like to update the progress of the bus registration at each School Committee meeting by using a poster with the thermometer model, as was used in FY13. The Committee also inquired if Dr.Ash's permission could be obtained to put the thermometer model on the LPS website Ms. Steigerwald and Ms. Dratch asked Ms. Celi for bus registration fliers to distribute at Town Meeting Ms. Crocker will distribute posters and fliers to the 4 Avalon apartment communities These make-up the bulk of the distance-eligible students 4. SC Comments from March 20 presentation The Committee was pleased with the suggested efforts to start a working dialogue with SC based on our recommendations Ms Crocker met with 4 out of 5 SC members prior to this meeting in order to better understand each SC member's level of comfort with the concept of the SC being property owners of the 9 school properties and 10 buildings as well as to learn their personal comments to the STS recommendations. The SC found certain terms to be troubling and asked for the Committee to not use them These included • Value - The context included "Continue to be part of the long-term solution of valuing walkers and bussers over driven students by engaging in setting,tracking, and executing goals regarding proposed bus efficiencies,traffic rules and compliance penalties"Although it was stated that this term is used as an industry standard and the premise is presently employed by school procedures in prioritizing driven students over walkers and bussers, objections came from the perception of valuing one group of students over another. The term priority was chosen as a substitute The context is meant to describe the logistical problem of providing and promoting expediency and safety in student transportation It was also noted that in a green community, one group is commonly held in higher regard than another. For example, one bus with 50 students has the equivalent capacity of 36 cars Separating car from pedestrian traffic is key to ensuring school traffic safety for all students Comments were made that school principals have a responsibility for all students In the off chance that transportation issues arise, principals should stay on school grounds until all the bussers have reached home on school days • Uniform- The Committee will substitute the term consistent The SC dislikes the term for they feel it is too similar to the term standardized • Engaged - The Committee disagreed with the SC finding this term too aggressive and will continue to use it • Penalty- The Committee decided to continue to use this term as well as interchanging it with the term consequence SC member Ms Stewart suggested summer meetings in order to better coordinate and craft a timely start-of-school school safety traffic policy. It was commented that the SC does not typically hold summer meetings Ms Steigerwald reported that the final SC meeting is June 14 STS will then need to set SC meeting dates 5. Update on Bridge Traffic Concerns There has been an increased urgency by the Bridge Safe Routes Committee and PTA presidents to address the acute nature of the school's parking and traffic problem. These groups have reached out to Ms. Crocker and Ms. Dunn. Parking and traffic is exacerbated due to the construction closure of the Old Res lot, commonly used for Bridge parent parking In addition,the community sees the situation as becoming much worst in the fall with the additional of some 40 students to its already overcrowded school Ms. Crocker was asked to meet with Bridge Safe Routes members and a PTA co- president The latter walked the property and explained where she would like an additional parking lot installed The likelihood of this not happening was explained to her as this is the same situation at all nine schools and each would want the same infrastructure improvement, how this idea does not effectively solve the problem, and the presence of wetlands limits any property changes Instead, other avenues were discussed to address the school's traffic safety problem. Ms. Dunn, Cell, Crocker and Mr.Weeks attended a meeting with Bridge Safe Routes members to better understand the issues from the parent's perspective The acting principal was unable to attend Using maps,the current traffic flow was explained and Mr. Weeks explained the traffic from a historical perspective. The group then observed the Bridge dismissal process outdoors Comments were received from one of the supervising staff members dealing with the buses Moving forward, Ms Dunn wants to create a school staff and parent focus group to learn the full scope of the issues and determine how to best address them 6 Next Steps Spring/Summer 2013 At the April 3 PTA President's Council, STS gave an overview of the recent SC and BoS presentations Also included was a synopsis from these two meetings of steps that are being taken to further the STS recommendations to the SC,which ideally will be acted upon between now, and the start of school in Sept 2013 These included • TSAC Examine and Codify School Signage • DPW/SRTS• School Zone Grant • LPS Consultant- school property traffic evaluations • DPF/DPW: Signage and Pavement Painting (funding) • LPS/SRTS/Principals/Parents• Re-Examine school traffic plans and arrival/dismissal procedures • LPS Transportation: Bus Registration • SRTS• Bike Walk'N Bus Week • Clarke Bus Loop Town Meeting Article 14 • LPS: Examine School Hours and Calendar • LPS• Re-examine School Handbooks and Websites • LPS Transportation: Order school buses (25), examine routes, distribute bus passes • SC/LPS/STS• Formulate School Traffic Policy • SC/STS/TSAC: Formulate Rule Enforcement • LPS/STS/Principals: Communicate/Educate CHANGE to parents and staff Moving on these action items will create changes in school traffic procedures for all schools. It was stressed to the Council that precisely how these proposed changes will affect the first day of school depends on the extent to which the action items are accomplished STS asked the Council to keep on open mind as to what Sept 3 will be in terms and that more information will be forthcoming in the months ahead 7 Template for School Traffic Safety Plan Ms Kendall, Brown and Crocker will examine best practices of other school districts and formulate a draft template for arrival and dismissal and Live drop- off/pick-up procedures Based on the SC reacting favorably to Safe Routes and PTA presidents in the audience, Mr Weeks suggested that the idea of a citizen's petition to improve traffic safety It would inquire if citizens agree that the Town roads are not working for the current load of pedestrians, drivers, and buses and that safety rules are not being enforced To point would be for the SC to take a proactive role in doing something about traffic congestion Questions could read • Are you tired of waiting in line? • Are you tired of having your child's bus wait in car traffic? • Does it scare you that an ambulance cannot get thru the car traffic? Ms Kendall met with the Hastings principal Ms Lipsitz and learned that she would find it helpful to have assistance with student safety as related to school traffic as well as enforcement 8 Discussion on engaging parent responsibility and accountability Tabled until the next meeting Comments were made that the LPS budget does not include a police detail to manage traffic 9 New Business a) The FY14 school calendar has been voted on by SC and it doe sinclude a listing of school hours b) Ms. Dratch commented on a recent LexEngage Q&A that explained why the Flexpass only is operational Monday-Friday beginning at 3 30pm and cannot be used to go to school She reported that Lexpress cannot guarantee a seat because it is public transportation and not a school bus. Our next meeting will be May 2, 2013 at 9am in the Conference Room at Central Administration. Respectively submitted, Judy Crocker