Safe Routes to School E-News
Issue #45: September 2009
Safe Routes to School E-News is a monthly email newsletter published by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, www.saferoutespartnership.org, a growing national network of hundreds of non-profit organizations, government agencies, and professional groups that are working to set goals, share best practices, secure funding, and provide detailed policy input to implementing agencies for advancing the Safe Routes to School national movement.
To receive future issues of E-News, email info@saferoutespartnership.org.
In this issue:
1. SRTS State Network Project Receives $1.5M Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Project to expand to 15 states to help increase physical activity, reduce childhood obesity
2. International Walk to School Day is October 7
Invite local physicians and Congressional members to participate
3. Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Federal Update
Draft a “Dear Congress” letter and spread the word; state DOT rescissions in the works
4. Institute of Medicine Releases Report on Childhood Obesity Prevention
Report affirms local governments’ role in creating healthy environments
5. 2nd Safe Routes to School National Conference a Resounding Success
Close to 550 in attendance from across the country
6. Resource Helps Locals Address School Bicycling and Walking Policies
Jointly-developed by the Partnership and the National Center
7. Safe Routes to School State Network Project Update
State Network Project meeting provided a learning network forum
8. Illinois Announces $13.7 Million in SRTS Funding Awarded
171 projects were funded out of 200 applications received
9. Send Us Your Local Success Stories
Your Congressional members want to hear from you
10. SRTS News Throughout the Country
Local and state SRTS program news links
1. SRTS State Network Project Receives $1.5M Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Project to expand to 15 states to help increase physical activity, reduce childhood obesity
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership (the Partnership) received a two-year expansion award of nearly $1.5 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) for the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) State Network Project. The grant will help spur policy work and environmental changes in 15 states during 2010 and 2011 to help increase regular physical activity for school-aged children and make it easier for them to walk and bicycle to school safely.
This fall, the Partnership will release a call for applications within states that meet selection criteria, including the number and percentage of students in the state who are overweight or obese, living in poverty, and from diverse communities. An organization will be picked in each state to coordinate the network’s efforts there, with 16 hours per week of staff time contracted for the project. The Partnership hopes to announce the selected states and lead organizations in December and to start this new work early next year.
The SRTS State Network Project was launched in 2007 in nine states (CA, GA, IL, KY, LA, NY, OK, TX, and VA) and the District of Columbia through a grant from RWJF and support from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente, and Bikes Belong Coalition. It brings together agencies and advocates from health, education, youth advocacy, equity, smart growth, and transportation to work with state transportation departments to ensure the best use of federal funds authorized for SRTS programs. These programs build sidewalks, bike lanes, pathways, and safe crossings in communities in every state and the District of Columbia. The SRTS State Network Project also works to leverage additional funding resources for SRTS and to create an institutional framework to generate long-term policy changes that will remove barriers to walking and bicycling to school.
2. International Walk to School Day is October 7
Invite local physicians and Congressional members to participate
International Walk to School Day is taking place next month on Wednesday, October 7, 2009. More than 1,700 schools are currently registered! You can register your school today at www.walktoschool.org/register.
This year, Kaiser Permanente is building on our successful collaboration from last year. Kaiser Permanente supports SRTS efforts as part of their Healthy Eating Active Living initiative. The organization’s efforts to support International Walk to School Day this year include driving media attention to SRTS efforts at schools in their local communities, engaging clinicians to submit letters and op ed’s to local news outlets, and promoting participation in walking and bicycling to school activities by employees and physicians. It is expected that Kaiser Permanente will participate in local Walk to School Day activities in nearly all of its regions this year.
As you are planning your event, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership encourages you to think about the bigger picture of who to invite. Inviting your Congressional members to your event is a great way to show them Safe Routes to School in action and to generate support for future funding. Check out the Partnership’s step-by-step toolkit, which was created to assist you specifically with invitations to elected officials and gaining media attention. You can also follow the Kaiser Permanente model and invite local physicians, dressed in their white coats, to participate in your walk to school day event.
3. Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Federal Update
Draft a “Dear Congress” letter and spread the word; state DOT rescissions in the works
Transportation bill
Congress is back in Washington, DC this week after spending the month of August listening to constituents; this fall will be a busy one on Capitol Hill. While most of the public attention is focused on the fate of the health care bill, the next month is also likely to result in movement on the transportation bill and the climate bill.
On the transportation bill, the House and Senate must agree upon the length of the extension to the current transportation bill, which expires September 30. The Senate and the Administration want a longer extension of 18 months, while the House prefers a much shorter extension to keep a continued focus on passing the next 6-year transportation bill.
Whatever the length of the extension, it is expected to continue all current transportation programs at their current fiscal year 2009 funding levels. However, an extension may create difficulties for state DOTs in committing to new projects and grants as they will be receiving money in installments over the course of the year. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership will continue to monitor state DOTs to ensure that Safe Routes to School funds are awarded and obligated in a timely fashion.
To keep attention on the next transportation bill, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee may hold a full committee “markup” of the existing House transportation draft bill, which was unveiled in June 2009 without funding levels. In a markup, members of the Committee offer and vote on proposed changes to the legislation to develop a final version of the bill that would then be considered by the full House of Representatives.
Letters to Congress
To prepare for the potential House Committee markup of the transportation bill and to continue to grow support in the Senate, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership has launched a “Dear Congress” campaign. We are asking parents, children, SRTS program staff and volunteers, and school and city leaders to write letters about the importance of SRTS. All letters should be delivered to the Partnership, and we will bundle them to share with members of the House and Senate. Please write a letter and ask others you know to write letters too. The deadline for these letters is September 24, 2009. Full instructions are posted on our website at www.saferoutespartnership.org/national/299443.
Rescissions
In other federal news, it is time for rescissions. In this federally-mandated process, state DOTs must return a portion of their existing transportation funds in a number of programs to Washington. For most transportation programs subject to the rescission, the loss of funding will be approximately 5% of a program’s total funding from FY2004-2009. Safe Routes to School is unique in that there are two methods of calculating the rescissions for each state —one based on unobligated balances as compared with other programs, and one is based on the funding level as compared with other programs. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is working closely with the Federal Highway Administration to determine the impact on state Safe Routes to School programs. At this point it appears that the maximum rescission will be around 4.5% of a state’s Safe Routes to School funds, but could be less in some states depending on obligation levels. As soon as we have more details, including state by state figures, we will share those via a subsequent email alert.
4. Institute of Medicine Releases Report on Childhood Obesity Prevention
Report affirms local governments’ role in creating healthy environments
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity in early September. The report identifies specific actions that local governments can take to increase physical activity and improve healthy eating in communities. Local governments play a crucial role in the fight against childhood obesity by creating environments that make it either easy or hard for children to eat healthier diets and move more, said the committee of health experts that wrote the report.
Highlighted in the report are twelve policies that have the greatest potential for impact, including incentive programs to attract complete streets policies and joint use. Safe Routes to School is also mentioned several times within the report as a strategy to increase physical activity. IOM’s careful examination of these policies and its resulting recommendations adds another layer of consensus to the growing momentum for environmental and policy change efforts across the country.
5. 2nd Safe Routes to School National Conference a Resounding Success
Close to 550 in attendance from across the country
The 2nd Safe Routes to School National Conference held in Portland, Oregon from August 19-21st was a resounding success, with more than 500 attendees discussing best practices and learning more about ways to propel their Safe Routes to School work to the next level. Mobile workshops to explore the fantastic bike culture of Portland were offered, and motivating keynote speakers were featured from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente, The Conservation Fund, and more.
If you missed a session or weren’t able to make it to the conference, you can download presentations here.
6. Resource Helps Locals Address School Bicycling and Walking Policies
Jointly-developed by the Partnership and the National Center
Children across the US are back in school, and many communities are seeing the traffic jams that result from parents driving their children to schools. To help encourage more walking and bicycling, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and the National Center for Safe Routes to School have released a jointly-developed resource, School Bicycling and Walking Policies: Addressing Policies that Hinder and Implementing Policies that Help. This tip sheet was developed in response to numerous requests from across the country.
School policies that encourage and support bicycling and walking can substantially boost a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program, both within individual schools and throughout the community. In contrast, a policy that discourages or prohibits bicycling or walking can stop a SRTS program in its tracks. The tip sheet provides simple steps explaining how to approach and overturn barrier policies that prohibit walking and/or bicycling to school, and encouraging supportive policies, which support and enable bicycling and walking to school programs.
7. Safe Routes to School State Network Project Update
State Network Project meeting provided a learning network forum
This year the Safe Routes to School National Partnership held a day-long meeting with our ten Network states in Portland, Oregon the day before the launch of Safe Routes to School National Conference. The ten state networks convene leaders in their state to develop and implement an action plan that will improve policies that affect the ability of children to walk and bicycle to schools, engaging in healthy physical activity.
Highlights from this year’s meeting included brainstorming and sharing new partners for the networks, discussing how to focus on the most vulnerable communities within states, and how to approach the most difficult policy issues that need to be changed at the state level.
After lunch the SRTS coordinators from the ten respective state Departments of Transportation joined the group to talk about increasing non-infrastructure applications and program quality, Title 23 (federal aid) tools and techniques, how to get money spent more quickly after awards are made (obligation), the importance of state advisory committees, and how to better ensure social equity.
8. Illinois Announces $13.7 Million in SRTS Funding Awarded
171 projects were funded out of 200 applications received
In August, Illinois announced $13.7 million in Safe Routes to School grants to schools and communities across the state. “This innovative program reaches out to our youth, instilling in them the healthy habits of physical activity,” said Governor Quinn. “With Illinois ranked fourth in the nation for childhood obesity rates, providing children with a safe and secure means of walking to school is an important tool to improve the health of our children.”
The 171 funded projects include projects encompassing everything from sidewalk repair to safety training for students and equipment for police and crossing guards. The complete list of grants in Illinois is available on the web at: www.dot.il.gov/saferoutes.
IDOT Secretary Gary Hannig stated that the agency received almost 200 applications adding up to $27.9 million in requests,” Hannig said. “Safe Routes to School has become a part of many Illinois schools and communities, and we encourage anyone who is interested in implementing Safe Routes to contact the Department for information on how to bring Safe Routes to your community.”
For more information on Illinois’ SRTS program, please contact Megan Holt at Megan.Holt@illinois.gov or (217) 785-2932.
9. Send Us Your Local Success Stories
Your Congressional members want to hear from you
We want to hear local success stories from your SRTS programs so that we can share them with your Congressional members! This will help to make the case for increasing funding for SRTS and asking for support for the SRTS Senate Bill (S. 1156). Please send a brief story, about three sentences long, to Kelechi Nwosu, including: your name, email, phone number, city, state, and school. To view sample stories, click here.
10. SRTS News Throughout the Country
Local and state SRTS program news links
Safe Routes to School news around the country keeps growing! Updated regularly, see our new SRTS in the News media center for the latest in local, state, and national SRTS news.
Help Grow the Partnership!
Joining the Partnership is free. Please encourage other organizations, schools, businesses, and government agencies to join the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.
Funding for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership has been generously provided by Bikes Belong Coalition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, SRAM Cycling Fund, and partner affiliates.
For more information, contact:
Brooke Driesse, Communications Manager
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
brooke@saferoutespartnership.org
www.saferoutespartnership.org
(619) 272-0097