City of Mentor Mentor Public Schools Mentor Public Schools Travel Plan Schools Included in This Report Shore Middle School Bellflower Elementary Sterling Morton Elementary Orchard Hollow Elementary 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1: .................................................................................................................................................. 3 SCHOOL TRAVEL PLAN TEAM MEMBERS ......................................................................................... SECTION 2: .................................................................................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... SECTION 3: .................................................................................................................................................. 5 THE PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS ................................................................................................................ SECTION 4: .................................................................................................................................................. 6 SCOPE ......................................................................................................................................................... SECTION 5: .................................................................................................................................................. 7 SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS ..................................................................................................................... SECTION 6: .................................................................................................................................................. 8 CURRENT SCHOOL TRAVEL ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................... SECTION 7: .................................................................................................................................................11 BARRIERS TO ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ........................................................................................ SECTION 8: .................................................................................................................................................14 CREATING SOLUTIONS AND COUNTERMEASURES ........................................................................ SECTION 9: .................................................................................................................................................19 IMPROVEMENTS MAPPING ................................................................................................................... SECTION 10: ...............................................................................................................................................20 THE ACTION PLAN .................................................................................................................................. SECTION 11: ...............................................................................................................................................25 PLAN ENDORSEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... SECTION 12: ...............................................................................................................................................26 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ................................................................................................................... 2 Section 1: SCHOOL TRAVEL PLAN TEAM MEMBERS The City of Mentor and Mentor Public Schools compiled a stakeholders group for the purpose of preparing a school travel plan. The team met and discussed concerns and recommendations to make the plan a success. The team members included both school and government officials as well as a parental representative for each school. Mentor Schools Director of Business Operations Diana Zarlenga Principal, Shore Middle School Doug Baker Principal, Bellflower Elementary Bobbi Ingraham Principal, Sterling Morton Elementary Chris Bergant Principal, Orchard Hollow Elementary Karen Trunk City of Mentor City Engineer David A. Swiger, P.E. Civil Engineer – Traffic Allen E. Pennington, P.E. Mentor Police Department Lt. Tom Powers Mentor Police Department – Community Services Marilyn Satterfield Director of Economic & Community Development Ronald M. Traub Community Shore Middle School Parent Annette Miller Shore Middle School Parent Mary Jo Stack Orchard Hollow Elementary Parent Rich Cowie Orchard Hollow Elementary Parent Melanie Baker Majikus Sterling Morton Elementary Parent Renee Ochaya Bellflower Elementary Parent Christine Brown Primary Contact: Allen E. Pennington, P.E. Civil Engineer – Traffic Office of the City Engineer 8500 Civic Center Boulevard Mentor, OH 44060 Phone: 440-974-5785 ext. 2618 Email: [email protected] 3 Section 2: INTRODUCTION The goal of the Mentor Public Schools Travel Plan is to identify and help eliminate barriers to active transportation for all children within walking and bicycling distances of each participating school. Active transportation is defined as travelling by means other than a motor vehicle or bus to and from school. The City of Mentor and Mentor Public Schools are partnering to encourage healthier lifestyles for our children and the community. It is expected that any programs or projects developed resulting from this plan will aid in providing safe travel methods for the present and future children of Mentor Public Schools. Data included in this plan was compiled using information gathered through stakeholder input, parental surveys, school demographics and information gathered from public meetings. One objective of the Mentor Public Schools Travel Plan is to increase the number of students who use healthier choices to travel to and from school while reducing pollution and traffic congestion at the schools. To accomplish this objective, this report will identify barriers to travel, analyze the data collected, develop possible solutions and utilize the results to provide concrete ways to improve the safety of active transportation for our children. 4 Section 3: THE PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS The Mentor Public Schools Travel Plan team collected public input through the following methods: Parent surveys were distributed the week of November 17, 2008 by Mentor Public Schools to each child at the four schools represented in this plan. A total of 1855 surveys were distributed with 159 surveys returned. Shore Middle School parents returned 19 of 701 surveys. Sterling Morton Elementary parents returned 46 of 310 surveys. Bellflower Elementary parents returned 21 of 424 surveys. Orchard Hollow Elementary parents returned 73 of 420 surveys. Various meetings were held between the City of Mentor personnel and Mentor Public Schools between May 2008 and December 2008 to discuss the options for the school travel plans. On December 6, 2008 a stakeholders meeting was held at the Mentor Senior Center to discuss the parent surveys and to identify barriers to walking and bicycling to school. A general overview of the Safe Routes to School program was presented to the group by Allen Pennington. Key stakeholder interviews also were performed for each of the schools. The principal of each school completed the stakeholder interview questions. Results are included in Section 12 of this report. A public meeting was held on January 7, 2009. The meeting was advertised in the News Herald on January 1 and 6, was posted on the City's web site, was advertised on the Mentor Channel and was mentioned at the January 6th City Council Meeting. The meeting focused on gathering public input on obstacles to walking and bicycling to school for students at each of the four schools. A public comment period was included in the meeting advertisements beginning January 1, 2009 with comments due by January 16, 2009. In addition a copy of the School Wellness Policy and the City of Mentor Bicycle Plan is included in Section 12 of this report. 5 Section 4: SCOPE This plan will address the needs of four of the thirteen schools that make up the Mentor Public School system. The location of each school attendance area is included in Section 12. Information as to each of the schools included in this plan is listed below (note: enrollment figures as on 12/10/08): Shore Middle School 5670 Hopkins Road Mentor, OH 44060 Grades Served: 6-8 Current Enrollment: 704 Bellflower Elementary 6655 Reynolds Road Mentor, OH 44060 Grades Served: K-5 Current Enrollment: 421 Orchard Hollow Elementary 8700 Hendricks Road Mentor, OH 44060 Grades Served: K-5 Current Enrollment: 413 Sterling Morton Elementary 9292 Jordan Drive Mentor, OH 44060 Grades Served: K-5 Current Enrollment: 305 6 Section 5: SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS The City of Mentor is located in Lake County, Ohio in the northeast part of the state. The demographics for each individual school and the aggregate total are listed below: Shore Middle Bellflower Orchard Hollow Sterling Morton Aggregate Totals Demographic School Elementary Elementary Elementary Category Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Total Students, 0 0% 421 100% 413 100% 305 100% 1139 62% grades K-5 Total Students, 704 100% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 704 38% grades 6-8 Caucasian 661 93.9% 394 93.6% 394 95.4% 288 94.4% 1737 94.2%