Program encouraging active transportation for students discussed at Powell River Board of Education meeting

School District 47 (SD47) has made an application to an active school travel pilot program.

At the Powell River Board of Education meeting on December 15, secretary-treasurer Steve Hopkins outlined the program, which is a grant opportunity for the school district to encourage active transportation.

Hopkins said the board had directed school district staff to meet with city staff to look at pedestrian traffic around Westview Elementary School. He said he and director of instruction Kristen Brach met with the regional social planner and city sustainability planner, and met onsite at the school with principal Shannon Behan.

“We took a walk around the school and spoke about the trustee initiative around traffic calming and then talked about this grant as we perused the school,” said Hopkins. “It was actually the two of them who brought forward the grant opportunity.

“We’re looking at it as two-fold. Shannon, as principal, is putting forward a proposal around biking. If successful, the grant is for $10,000 and the idea is to promote safe biking and walking to school. We could use the money, in part, to address safe routes to school and promotional materials.”

He said there will also be liaison with city engineering staff.

“In the meantime, it will be put forward with this grant opportunity that the city provided a letter of support for the school,” added Hopkins. “The application has been completed. It is supported and it would lead to promoting that active transportation.

“There’s all kinds of value being tied to the grant. If the initiative is supported through the grant, then the school board could support some of the ideas that were put forward in the initiative.”

Trustee Rob Hill asked if there was a formal commitment from the city to create a four-way stop at Masset Street and Selkirk Avenue, as had been discussed at the November board of education meeting.

Hopkins said the city’s engineering department is responsible for the roads. He said the school district used the comparison of the four-way stop at Egmont Street and Michigan Avenue adjacent to the École Côte-du-Soleil, the French school, to calm traffic.

“[Masset and Selkirk] is not a main traffic area where it is going to create congestion by having cars stop in all directions, so I think there might be some support, but we have to wait until we hear back from the city,” said Hopkins.

The pilot program for which the school district has applied is designed to support more BC students and families to be active more often for the school journey and is funded by BC ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

The program brochure stated that schools can support lasting changes in physical, mental and social well-being across the whole school community by developing sustainable actions to encourage students to engage in human-powered transportation more often.