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‘Walking school bus’ advocates will try another Lawrence school

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The “walking school bus” — a movement that encourages children to walk to school — may have suffered a flat tire in its initial effort, but backers of the concept have not given up hope.
   Last year, an effort was made to create a walking school bus — a group of children that walks to school, accompanied by adults — to escort the children to the Ben Franklin Elementary School on Princeton Pike.
   That effort fizzled, however, and now the township’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force and the Truck and Traffic Committee are joining forces to try to spark interest in it again.
   The two committees agreed at their joint Oct. 29 meeting to seek school district officials’ support to launch the walking school bus program at the Lawrenceville Elementary School as a pilot program, possibly as soon as the spring.
   Township Councilwoman Pam Mount said the walking school bus would help to reduce childhood obesity because children would receive some exercise, and it would also help to reduce air pollution created by cars that idle in front of the schools during arrival and dismissal times.
   Ms. Mount said children don’t want to walk to school because the sidewalks are “bumpy,” and they sometimes encounter barking dogs. There are overgrown bushes that obscure their vision, also, she said.
   Matthew Calu, who is the program coordinator in the Lawrence Township Recreation Department, said that Lawrenceville Elementary School would be the “perfect location” to start a pilot program in the spring because it is in a heavily residential neighborhood. A successful launch at LES could jumpstart the program, he said.
   School board member Ginny Bigley, who attended the meeting, said “it’s a sign of the times” that parents don’t feel comfortable letting their children walk to school. Many parents drop their children off in the morning. They are concerned about their children’s safety walking to school, because they don’t know all of the neighbors, she said.
   ”It’s a matter of how we start the program,” Ms. Bigley said. “The Lawrenceville Elementary School has a lot of ‘walkers.’ I would look at walking to school as being great. There are a lot of pluses.”
   Ms. Bigley suggested holding neighborhood meetings so parents could meet their neighbors. Perhaps they would feel better if they knew who lives in the neighborhood and who would be walking their children to school, she added.
   Charles Carmalt, who serves on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force, recalled that when he was young, there were many children who lived in his neighborhood and they all walked to school. But when he moved to Lawrence, he noticed that few of the homes on his street — Birchwood Knoll — had children living in them.
   ”I wonder if it would make parents feel better if we asked a senior citizen (who lives in the neighborhood) to sit outside (while the children walk to school) so there would be a human presence,” Mr. Carmalt said.
   Steven Groeger, the township’s Superintendent of Recreation, said it’s important to make parents realize that a walking school bus is a convenience for them. The children can walk to school on their own, he said.
   ”You have to find the key people to make it work,” Mr. Groeger said, adding that it would likely take a while before the program is “up and running.” It could work with a half-dozen walkers, but it’s important to find two or three “champions” for the program, he added.
   Ms. Mount volunteered to speak to the Lawrenceville Elementary School’s parent-teacher organization to gauge the group’s interest in the effort.