School District Awarded Safe Routes to School Funding

The Lemon Grove School District was awarded a $451,500 grant Wednesday that will be used to create a safer, more livable community with an emphasis on healthy walking and biking education, according to Superintendent Ernie Anastos.

The district is one of 11 jurisdictions in the county to receive Caltrans grants totaling nearly $5 million. The funding is provided by the federal Safe Routes to School program.

In all, $66 million was awarded to cities, counties and regional agencies throughout the state to fund 139 projects to improve safety for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

“By improving safety, more children are encouraged to walk and bicycle to school, ultimately resulting in healthier children and less traffic congestion,”' said acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.

The district will use the grant money to establish a steering committee and school site coalitions, conduct safety education and training, develop Suggested Routes to School Maps, form walk/bike groups, plan National Walk to School Day activities and offer other educational outreach programs at Golden Avenue, Monterey Heights, San Miguel, San Altos and Mount Vernon elementary schools, and Palm Middle School.

Grant recipients include:

• the city of El Cajon, $769,400 to build sidewalks and install pedestrian safety equipment near Greenfield Middle School and EJE Academies;

• the county of San Diego, $670,800 to build sidewalks near Lakeview Elementary School in Lakeside;

• the San Diego Unified School District, $500,000 to create a Southeast San Diego Safety Resource Network that will benefit Bell Middle School, Gompers Charter Middle School, Keiller Leadership Academy, Memorial Preparatory School for Scholars and Athletes and O'Farrell Community Middle School;

• the National School District, $500,000 to conduct safety education and create an incentive program; and

• the city of Encinitas, $331,200 to build raised medians, crosswalks and islands near Flores Elementary School.

The grants will fund similar programs and improvements in La Mesa, San Marcos, Santee and San Ysidro.

—City News Service contributed to this report.