Safe Routes to School Conference Aims to Improve Kids' Safety

Palm Harbor parents, you're not the only ones who are busy getting ready for the new school year. Today, more than a hundred people will gather to figure out how to keep Pinellas county students safe on their way to and from school.

Pinellas County Health Department and Pinellas County Schools are organizing the Safe Routes to School Conference which will be held Wednesday, August 3 at Countryside High School.

Representatives from 14 Pinellas County elementary schools will be participating in the workshop-style conference. They'll be meeting with other leaders in the community to develop plans to improve safety of children during their commutes to school.

Peggy Johns, who is the supervisor for Pre-K Health Education at Pinellas County Schools says representatives from each of the 14 schools will be meeting in workshops to identify the unique issues at their schools that make the commute to school dangerous for kids.

Johns says PTAs have been known to play a big role in children's safety, "It's not just the school's problem when there are not safe walking paths for kids on the way to school."  Johns says PTAs have been instrumental in the safety programs because they can help organize parents, who participate in walking school buses. 

Among those in attendance will be PTA groups, Pinellas County School Board Members, representatives from police and fire agencies,  Pinellas County Commissioner Karen Steel, Safe Kids Coalition members, traffic engineering specialists, safety educators, transportation specialists and staff from other agencies.

The 14 schools that will be participating in the conference are-

Belcher Elementary, Curtis Fundamental Elementary, Cypress Woods Elementary, Dunedin Elementary, Frontier Elementary, Garrison Jones Elementary, Gulfport Elementary, High Point Elementary, John M. Sexton Elementary, McMullen Booth Elementary, Mildred Helms Elementary, Ponce De Leon Elementary, and Starkey Elementary.

If you would like to find out if your school's PTA is participating in Safe Routes to School, you should contact your school's PTA to inquire. You can find your child's PTA by looking on the website for your child's school on this list of Pinellas County schools.

Some Other Helpful Safety Links-

Safe Routes to School (national) 

Safe Routes to School (Florida)

Florida School Crossing Guard Training Program

Facts about Florida School Bus Safety & Florida School Bus Drivers