Students walk across the intersection between Palo Alto High School and Town & Country Village during lunch. The district plans to implement the Safe Routes to School program in secondary schools to promote biking and walking safety. According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, students don’t only need to be worried about themselves, but also their surroundings. “Students should be more aware of their surroundings and know that just because they’re doing the right thing, doesn’t mean the person who is driving is doing the right thing,” Berkson said. “So be very defensive, like, while you’re being a defensive driver.” (Photo: Ketan Altekar-Okazaki)

The City of Palo Alto is planning to expand its Safe Routes to School programs, a U.S. Department of Transportation program that promotes walking and bicycling to school through safety education and infrastructure improvements, to middle and high school students in the Palo Alto Unified School District.

So far, the SRTS programs have only been serving elementary school students. According to Palo Alto High School Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, the program has been effectively educating elementary school students about walking and biking safety through physical activities, such as practicing safety while crossing miniature intersections. He says that throughout the program, kids are taught to make eye contact with drivers, as well as the proper hand signals and gestures when riding a bike.

According to Campus Supervisor Carl Hubenthal, there have been safety issues around Paly that were caused by drivers in addition to students.

“If you go out [to the intersection between Paly and Town & Country Village], you can see that nobody pays attention to the do not cross area and sometimes they [cars] even block the crosswalk when the traffic has stopped,” Hubenthal said.

Berkson said distractions such as socializing can critically affect students’ safety.

“I can see people not paying attention, plus you got earbuds and socializing going on,” Berkson said. “So, crossing the intersection and getting to school is something where people need to be careful.”

In a recent Schoology post, Principal Brent Kline discussed the activities that the district should focus on in order to maximize student safety while implementing the SRTS program in middle and high schools. PAUSD is currently determining what to include in the revamped program and used a student survey on Schoology as a guide for its future plans.

Senior Liran Gutelzon said the SRTS program in elementary school was extremely helpful in learning bike safety. 

“I remember learning to look the driver in the eye before crossing the road, check both ways before crossing the street and to always wear a helmet,” Gutelzon said. “I see a lot of my peers not doing these, so it would be great to have a refresher course in high school in order to continue to practice safety all around campus.”