Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

9/9/05

NEWS RELEASE
City and Schools Celebrate Kids
Walking and Biking Safely to School

The "Safe Routes to Schools" ribbon-cutting event will be held on Thursday, September 15, at 10 a.m., at Pioneer Elementary School, 2301 M Street Southeast, in Auburn. The event will celebrate the completion of sidewalks and a non-motorized path near Pioneer Elementary School that will allow 120 students to safely walk and bike to and from the elementary school. The construction was performed by the City of Auburn and was funded by a $121,770 "Safe Routes to Schools" grant awarded to Auburn School District and the city by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

Auburn School District will provide a security guard on a police-standard bicycle to monitor the newly improved walking and bicycling routes before and after school. The grant also funded a railroad safety program at two high schools and a middle school near the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad; safe walking and bicycling assemblies; and bicycling field trips.

The event will be hosted by Linda Cowan, Auburn School District Superintendent and Mayor Pete Lewis, City of Auburn. Representatives from WSDOT and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington will also be in attendance. Twelve bicycles funded by a mini-grant from the Bicycle Alliance of America will be given to Pioneer Elementary School students; the students will also be fitted with brand new bicycle helmets from the Auburn Fire Department.

For more information, contact Daryl Thompson, Auburn School District Public Information, at (253) 931-4713 or Duanna Richards, City of Auburn Executive Assistant to the Mayor, at (253) 931-3041.