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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-01-09-STAS-min Ad Hoc School Transportation and Safety Study Committee January 9, 2014 at 9am Conference Room, Central Administration Building Meeting Minutes 1 Attending. Judy Crocker, Elaine Celi (LPS Transportation), Elaine Dratch, MaryEllen Dunn (Assistant Superintendent), Captain Manny Ferro,Jessie Steigerwald, Craig Weeks Guests Bonnie Brown, Shannon Maloney,Al Montgomery 2 Meeting minutes were not ready to be reviewed. 3 Proposed LPS School Traffic Safety and Mitigation Policy • Survey Will be distributed shortly to parents and the community • Budget. o School Bus Captains - Financing will come from the revolving fund. o Capital request- Policy design will be needed for all schools This will involve Operations and DPF There will be three-year requests for 3 schools/year for $30,000 in year one and two and $40,000 in year three. This will involve Ms. Dunn, Captain Ferro, Shawn Newell,John Frick in the LPS budget. o FY15 Budget- The FY15 schools affected are Bridge,to address change in enrollment along, and LHS,to reduce the number of student spaces and deal with traffic volume and patterns, along with recommendations made in the preliminary report. o Parent Bus Fee for FY15 =The subsidized fee will remain at$300/student while the actual cost/student has risen by$12 to $745 Kudos to Ms Dunn and Ms Celi for the successful streamlining and efficiencies gained by modifying the bus registration process! o Bus registration numbers- Due to demand, FY15 will be adding an additional bus for a total of 26 buses. • Timeline It is the Committee's hope that the policy readings will take place over three consecutive SC meetings in April. However,the SC policy sub-committee has not met in over two years. Therefore,this policy will bypass that group There can be no delay in taking action on it for that would negatively suspend the engineering and enforcement components of the project. • Recent Emergency at Dismissal- On Jan 6, the fire alarm was sounded at LHS just prior to dismissal. The resultant traffic issues highlighted the need for this draft policy to be implemented. It also underscored the need for a phone chain form of communication to be included in the emergency response plan. • Policy document-While the ideas were discussed within this Committee,the WorldTech report was performed for the school department and SC use. It is the role of our LPS representative to support the principals and superintendent on a district-wide operations level. 4 Estabrook Update The community problem of no queuing on Grove Street needs a public dialogue. Information needs to be distributed with bus registration materials An implementation plan with details will be needed during the bus registration period and a multifaceted approach will be employed. Captain Ferro emphasized that the no queuing directive will be specific to Estabrook and not at all schools Traffic engineers and public safety officials will have vetted the new school's final traffic plan. Therefore, it is the opportunity to instill new behaviors and traffic patterns in the new school. It was discussed that TSAC, C&W Transportation and LPS administration should meet and also meet with school principals Ms. Dunn will work with the principals to provide emergency access I addition, the LPD electronic signboard will be placed on the Grove St island at Turning Mill Rd. It was made clear that Estabrook,being Phase I of the proposed policy implementation, is not a pilot. Capacity issues and the need for infrastructure improvements are needed at all schools. For improving communication, it was suggested that LPS working thru the Town utilize the town distribution list. • An explanation of how the proposed policy will be enforced needs to make clear that law enforcement resources are the final resort, not the first. PTA and staff safety greeters can help as a visual during week#1 of school. • The SC needs to verbalize what is needed from parents and staff Ms Dunn will meet with the Estabrook principal. Public Safety meeting After making multiple student arrival and dismissal observations, Captain Ferro met with Mr Goddard,John Flick, Ms. Trach, and Mr Goddard at the school to discuss the interim traffic plan. • All parties realize that any future traffic plan must deal with a restrictive footprint. There is also a traffic lane entering the property that is not mapped. The staff looks down the hill and radios other staff when they see a bus approaching. Staff then holds traffic so that the bus can enter the bus lane. The LPD sees the interim plan as acceptable although not optimal. • There are areas of concern for LPD and LFD, namely cross over points of questionable unnecessary vehicular movement. Ms Trach has a concern that the hill grade located near the front door will ne difficult for buses • More cars can be queued off Grove St for the new school driveway is longer All students walk around the building to the side cafeteria door In bad weather,the front door is used. • A floater crossing guard was offered to Estabrook. • The final traffic flow plan conversation will begin in March. Concerns include how student increases will affect the original capacity design. • Captain Ferro says that there is in place a good transitional evacuation plan for the school but that it is hard to enforce something with which LPD had no input. Robinson Rd Update John Livsey met with Ms Dunn to discuss the Robinson Rd improvements being undertaken in May-October, weather permitting. There will be no parking on either side of the completed roadway The SC needs a policy for the cul-de-sac and live standing parking. 5 Clarke Update Mr Weeks addressed the Conservation Commission about the possibility of constructing a boardwalk from Waltham St to Stedman Rd near the entrance of the Clarke School. The purpose is to create an attractive pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists away from the vehicular traffic on Brookside and Stedman. The response was positive The next step is to integrate this as part of the Clarke study 6 LPS Form Letter for Illegal Passing of School Bus When reporting a school bus flashing lights violation,witnesses must make themselves available to the RMV Technically, LPS has 2850 student witnesses. The Committee voted to make a recommendation to the SC and LPD to "review violation letter and work together to create a LPS tool to be used to educate offenders as to the law"This is an educational campaign and not part of an enforcement process. In addition,the Committee would like to investigate the RMV guidelines for releasing plate information. The question of whether it is possible for C&W to contact LPS, who in turn contacts LPD,who would mail the informational letter to the observed violator 7 New Business Ms. Dratch would like to include the community center in LPS transportation discussions and for other committees to be kept abreast of school infrastructure improvements and other STS work. Our next meeting will be February 6, 2014 at 9am in the Conference Room at Central Administration. Respectively submitted, Judy Crocker