Thanks, Sonia! I know this has been discussed for many years. here on the list, at Bike Fed, and even at BOE meetings - although the current BOE may not remember or may not have been in office.
It was always a silly policy and not in line with trends to encourage more physical activity, less driving to school, and active transportation in general. Now, maybe we can work on the sorry state of bike racks, especially at high schools. As an alder attending meetings at West High, in my district, I once asked staff why the school - in a very bike-friendly neighborhood just blocks from the SW Path - had such terrible racks. I was told, "We don't really want to encourage kids to ride to school." Why? Because they were afraid the kids would get hurt or the bikes would get stolen or vandalized. These kids are or will be driving soon!!! And they are worried about them getting hurt riding their bikes? (At the same time, students would show up at the neighborhood association meetings and ask for more lax parking in the neighborhood, because they were getting parking tickets. Not much sympathy from the neighborhood association or the alder.) Robbie Webber Transportation Policy Analyst State Smart Transportation Initiative www.ssti.us 608-263-9984 (o) 608-225-0002 (c) [email protected] On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 11:09 AM, Sonia Dubielzig < [email protected]> wrote: > I guess I should toot my own horn here. > > Previously, the policy stated: > * > A pupil under the age of ten shall not ride a bicycle to school. * > > *a. The PRINCIPAL may make exception upon written request of a parent. > * > * * > > *b. The PRINCIPAL may forbid bicycles on school grounds. * > > > I started in my position at MMSD in August 2012, and changing this policy > was one of the first things I started working on. > > Surveys and conversations with parents and Principals at the school level > showed that there was widespread awareness of the policy, and most thought > it should be changed. At the District level, most administrators were > unaware of the policy and/or not sure why it was there in the first place. > Most other school districts in Dane County don't have any language on > student bicycle use in their board policies at all. > > I would have preferred eliminating the policy altogether from MMSD's > policies, but some of the administrators wanted Principals to have a policy > they could enforce if they saw very young children riding who were > obviously not ready to ride by themselves. > > The process to change it was very slow, but at no point did I really > experience any resistance to changing it. In fact, when the Board of > Education operations committee approved the change (unanimously and without > discussion), they told me, "Thank you for what you are doing!" This blew my > supervisor's mind, because she was not used to getting that warm reception > from the BOE herself. > > Sonia > > -- > Safe Routes to School Coordinator > Madison Metropolitan School District > 608-663-5454 > [email protected] > https://tnlweb.madison.k12.wi.us/saferoutes > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
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