Supervisors Slashing Safe Routes to School Funding?

All children and families in every single San Francisco neighborhood deserve safe, affordable transportation options. Shockingly, that concept is being threatened by some members of the Board of Supervisors, and they need to hear from you.

Schools across San Francisco are bordered with streets identified by the Department of Public Health as high-injury corridors — those 12 percent of our streets where 70 percent of severe collisions occur. This is particularly true in lower-income communities and communities of color. Encouraging walking, biking and taking transit are part of how we transform these streets for the safety of all families.

Safe Routes to School is a vital program helping children get to school safely. Since 2009, the Safe Routes to School partnership has educated thousands of families and students on the importance of carpooling, walking, biking and taking transit for school commutes. The program also works to address violence prevention in neighborhoods such as the Tenderloin and SoMa, where the threat of violence is identified as one of the top reasons why students and caregivers do not walk or bike.

Members of the Board of Supervisors are considering slashing Safe Routes to School funding from $2.8 million to $2.06 million for 2019 through 2021.This substantial reduction in resources would have a dramatic effect on Safe Routes to School outreach, including:

  • Reducing the number of elementary schools served by Safe Routes to School by nearly 30 percent from at least 35 to 25;
  • Reducing the number of SF students in a Safe Routes to School campus from 35,000 students to less than 25,000;
  • Reducing the number of outreach workers from five to just three serving the entire school district;
  • Limiting funding to groups that work to see children to school safely in areas where families are more vulnerable to street violence and school truancy;
  • Reducing Safe Routes to School staff at the SF Department of Public Health, the SF Bicycle Coalition, Walk SF and Presidio YMCA; and
  • Preventing the partnership from conducting the robust, multilingual outreach that is critical to supporting low-income neighborhoods and communities of color seeking to improve public health and safety around their schools.

San Francisco families need you to take action today. Make a difference and see that members of the Board of Supervisors do not harm SF children and families by cutting these critical funds. Email your Supervisor and ask them to advocate for fully funding Safe Routes to School programs and copy our Family & Schools Program Manager Nancy Buffum: nancy@sfbike.org.

District 1 Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer: Sandra.Fewer@sfgov.org
District 2 Supervisor Mark Farrell: mark.farrell@sfgov.org
District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin: aaron.peskin@sfgov.org
District 4 Supervisor Katy Tang: katy.tang@sfgov.org
District 5 Supervisor London Breed: london.breed@sfgov.org
District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim: jane.kim@sfgov.org
District 7 Supervisor Norman Yee: norman.yee@sfgov.org
District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy: jeff.sheehy@sfgov.org
District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen: hillary.ronen@sfgov.org
District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen: malia.cohen@sfgov.org
District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí: ahsha.safai@sfgov.org

If you do not know who your Supervisor is, click the map below to help you find your Supervisor.

Your Supervisor needs to hear from you today before they vote to cut this crucial funding for Safe Routes to School this Tuesday, Sept. 12. Please write a letter of support for SF families and ask your Supervisor to join our efforts to deliver safe and healthy ways for San Francisco’s children to arrive at school.

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