Trail Wind Elementary Principal Glenn Aguiar is looking for ways to help kids get to school on their own, not in a vehicle.
His concern is with traffic congestion outside his school at drop-off and pick-up time.
"It bottlenecks," said Aguiar, who is in charge of one of the largest elementary schools in the Boise School District, with 680 students. And "there's never enough parking."
Brief periods of traffic gridlock are common at busy schools. Because Trail Wind, located in the Columbia Village community, has relatively dense housing around it, many students already walk or bike to school. Aguiar hopes a new program from the Idaho Transportation Department's Safe Routes to School program will encourage even more parents to send their kids to school under their own power.
This year is the first in Idaho for the federally funded program, which is directing $1.5 million to 21 school districts and other entities in the state for programs that encourage kids to walk or bike to school.
Congress approved spending of more than $612 million for the 2005 national Safe Routes to School program. The program is aimed at reducing traffic congestion near schools and improving air quality.
Also, while preventive health for children is not normally a priority of the Federal Highway Administration, another goal is to get kids moving, said Lance Johnson, safety and traffic program manager for the FHA.
"We know that children who walk and bike to school are typically more healthy than those that don't," said Johnson.
Johnson said that nationally, 25 percent of children ride a bus to school, and another 50 percent are driven in a private vehicle.
The Safe Routes to School grant money can be used to improve infrastructure such as sidewalks, road markings, lighting, or signs, or for education programs that encourage kids to walk or bike, said Josephine O'Connor, Idaho's Safe Routes to School coordinator.
O'Connor said the goal is to have community, school or other groups use the money to start a program, and then continue it without the federal funding.
"We're just the seed money here," she said. This year, the Treasure Valley YMCA and the Boise School District are working jointly on an education project that teaches bicycle safety and encourages children to get to school under their own power, said O'Connor.
Ada County Highway District also won a grant to install some sidewalk improvements at six elementary schools in Kuna and Eagle, O'Connor said.
"From my standpoint, the biggest thing is the reduction of cars," said Aguiar. "And any time the kids can get exercise, that's a good thing."
As part of her job, O'Connor also publicizes International Walk to School Day on the first Wednesday of October.
Bob Amburn, principal of Washington Elementary School in Boise, provides incentives for students who get themselves to school that day. He noted that walking is a good way for people to socialize with others in the community and added that he has several staff members who bike to work every day from other parts of town.
"Next year, I'll be in shape enough to ride my bike to school with everybody else," said Amburn. "It's terribly fun."
Anne Wallace Allen: 377-6433
