Sidewalks make safe paths for students

If not for sidewalks, American children — and the ’80s New Wave band Devo — would be left without the rhyme, “Step on a crack, break your mother’s back.”

But sidewalks are inspirations for much more than easy poetry — they serve as connectors for our neighborhoods, bringing people together efficiently and providing a safe way for students to travel to and from schools. Advancing that cause is the National Center for Safe Routes to School, and as reported by the Democrat’s Bob Satnan, this month the Pettis County R-V School District, based in Hughesville, was awarded a federal grant of nearly $250,000 to provide sidewalks leading to its elementary and high school campuses.

According to saferoutesinfo.org, the federal Safe Routes to School program distributes more than $600 million annually to help districts provide proper pathways for students to be able to walk, use a wheelchair or ride their bicycles to school.

In the case of the Pettis R-V district, Superintendent Sharee Norfleet told Satnan: “Some parents who live in town are afraid of having their kids walk along the highway (to school). This will make them more confident in having their kids walk to school.”

There are multiple benefits to children being able to walk or bike safely to and from school, including cutting down on traffic near schools because fewer parents will be driving their kids to class, and students get more exercise, which contributes to encouraging more healthy lifestyles at younger ages.

The one flaw we see with the program is the way the Missouri Department of Transportation, which administers the program at the state level, notifies — or fails to notify — districts whose applications for grant funding have been selected.

When Satnan called Norfleet for a reaction to the Pettis R-V district having its request funded, she had yet to hear anything from MoDOT about the status of her district’s application.

MoDOT posted the recipients on its website (modot.mo.gov) and sent news releases to the media, but failed to contact those who actually filed the applications.

However, the important point should not be lost in the lack of notification. Students in the Pettis R-V district will benefit from having sidewalks installed that will give them safe ways to move themselves to school and back home.