Encouragement

E N C O U R A G E M E N T

Goal: Explore strategies to promote walking and bicycling through the identification of safe routes, organizing events, rewarding participation, and educating adults.

1. The DGF School District Wellness and Transportation Policies already include language that actively promotes walking and biking to and from school. This is better than most school districts. The Wellness Policy states that, “Safe bicycling and walking to and from school is promoted and encouraged.” The DGF Transportation Policy (an 18-page document mostly dedicated to busing students) only makes two brief statements regarding walking and biking. It states that, “Parents/Guardians are responsible to … support safe riding and walking practices and recognize that students are responsible for their actions,” and that, “The school district may provide student safety education for bicycling and pedestrian safety for students in grades K through 5.” DGF School District may wish to review its policy language to see if meets current best practices.

A review of the DGF School District Transportation, Wellness, and Health and Safety Policies (Appendices G, H, I) found the above references to walking or biking to and from school. It is encouraging to see that the DGF School District has some specific language that supports and actively promotes walking and bicycling to and from school for students. This is better than most school districts and DGF should be commended. That said, there is always room for improvement and the DGF School District may wish to review its policy language to see if it meets current best practices. A sample Wellness policy amendment specific to Minnesota and SRTS was produced by the Public Health Law Center at the William Mitchell College of Law and can be found in Appendix E. An additional policy resource specific to Minnesota is the Minnesota SRTS Model Policies Tip Sheet which can be found in Appendix F. Finally, the SRTS National Partnership, in cooperation with ChangeLab Solutions (a multi-disciplinary, multi-government agency policy partnership), has developed an on-line SRTS District Policy Workbook. This resource is a comprehensive SRTS policy guide covering everything from general policies supporting SRTS to more advanced policies like “No Idling Policies” and “School Siting Policies.” This resource is best accessed on-line and can be found at: http://www.changelabsolutions.org/safe-routes/welcome. Also look for possible improved policies coming out of the MnDOT SRTS Office and/or the Minnesota Department of Education in the near future.

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2. Develop informational messages to be included in the monthly school newsletter or email blast, encouraging students to walk or bike to school and highlighting associated health benefits.

Monthly informational messages can raise awareness about the positive health and academic benefits associated with increased physical activity, such as walking and bicycling. To get information to parents, a short message could be included in the monthly school newsletter.

3. Explore the development of a remote school bus drop site. Explore / develop a competition or challenge to reward students by tracking the number of times they walk, bike within an area in the City of Glyndon deemed safe to walk and bike to school. Barriers such as the U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF railroad may need to be mitigated before areas north of these right-of-ways are acceptably safe for children to walk and/or bike to school.

Such a competition should also allow the children that have no choice but to take the bus to participate in some way as well, preferably by having them do some sort of physical fitness activity like walking on school grounds, etc.

Competitions or challenges provide students with immediate, positive reinforcement. The possible competitions or challenges are endless and could target individuals, classrooms or the entire school.

4. Participate in International Walk and Bike to School Days to encourage students and their families to try walking or biking to school.

International Walk and Bike to School Day attracts millions of participants all over the world. The intent is to encourage students and their families to try walking or bicycling to school for one day. In some districts with high busing numbers, events on this day might include a walk around school grounds and throughout the town for all students, or a remote bus drop-off which would allow all students to walk to school from that location. Depending on the response rate, these events could be extended into the future and turn into ongoing designated walking and bicycling days. Key partners include law enforcement officials, high school students, teachers, parent advocates and PartnerSHIP 4 Health. As a result, youth become empowered and more connected to health and their environment

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5. Install a bicycle repair station near the front entrance of the school by the bicycle rack.

Outdoor bicycle repair stations (Figure 37) are a great way to encourage bicycling, provide a way to make sure that bicycles are in good working order before students leave school for the day, make minor repairs that might otherwise leave a student stranded, all while teaching students basic mechanics and self-

reliance. A typical station is equipped with a repair stand that holds the bike from the saddle, a heavy duty all-weather bicycle pump, and basic tools attached to the stand with theft resistant cables that

allow a person to make most basic repairs.

6. Investigate the need and/or feasibility of a walking school bus for students within Glyndon city limits.

Figure 37: A bicycle repair station with a heavy-duty allweather pump, installed in the Summer of 2015 at the Fergus Falls Public Library.

A walking school bus is a group of students walking to and from school with chaperones (usually adult / parent volunteers). A walking school bus is a fun, healthy and an easy opportunity for students to be physically active. A walking school bus usually provides front door pick-up and drop-off of students along the way, which can allay most parents’ fears. It can be done daily or just on certain days of the week and/or depending on weather conditions. The Glyndon-Felton Elementary School should investigate the desire for a walking school bus and see if parents or other citizen volunteers are interested in taking turns walking students. If a walking school bus is explored, outreach to parents could be done via the parent newsletter. The hardest part to operating a walking school bus is finding enough dedicated volunteers to act as “drivers.”

For more Encouragement ideas see Minnesota SRTS Model Policies Tip Sheet (Appendix F).

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