Salem, schools to create safe routes for students | News, Sports, Jobs

SALEM — Salem City Schools and the city of Salem are joining forces to improve the routes students take to school on foot or two wheels.

Those improvements could encourage more students to walk or ride bicycles to school, which in turn promotes a healthy and active lifestyle.

Both entities recently approved the Salem City Schools Safe Routes to School Travel Plan, which includes an extensive list of actions to counteract shortcomings to safety, such as a lack of crosswalks and signage.

As part of the plan, grant funding is being sought by the city to help pay for some of the improvements.

The recommendations include installing 13 new school zone flashing beacons in areas near the schools, installation of crosswalk signals, repairing and replacing some sidewalks, replacing crosswalk ramps, installing warning signs for motorists and enhancing signage.

Another recommendation is to reconfigure the intersection approach to 90 degrees on Lincoln Avenue at F.E. Cope Drive.

Affected areas for some of the proposed work will include Lincoln at Sixth Street, Ohio Avenue at East Pershing, Southeast Boulevard at Fairview Avenue and Ridgewood Drive, West 12th Street at Buckeye Avenue, Hawley at Sixth Street, Third Street intersection improvements at Vine, Rose, Hawley and Union avenues, Third Street at Lincoln, Buckeye Avenue at West 13th Street, Sixth Street east of Lincoln (poor sidewalks), Merle Road in front of Southeast Elementary and Ohio Avenue at Oak Street.

“So kids can walk or ride their bikes safely to school, that’s the goal,” Superintendent Sean Kirkland said.

The board approved the Safe Routes to School Travel Plan between the community stakeholders and Safe Routes to School Team on Monday.

City council adopted a resolution endorsing the plan last month, along with a separate resolution authorizing Mayor John Berlin to prepare and submit an application to the Safe Routes to School Program through the Ohio Department of Transportation for up to $400,000 in funding.

Kirkland said the district has kids who walk to school in the roads during snow and he was looking at ways to fix some of the sidewalks and routes to the schools.

He came across the Safe Routes To School Program during his research and contacted Julie Needs for help. He said she took it from there and ran with it, doing a lot of work on the plan with help from the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association (OMEGA).

The team includes Kirkland, Needs, Berlin, city Service/Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello, School Resource Officer Rich Miller, Salem Police Chief J.T. Panezott, Lt. Dave Casto, Salem Fire Inspector Kevin Bryan, Kevin Buettner of OMEGA and Chris Varcolla and Scott Warner of ODOT.

In personnel matters, Kirkland praised the latest list of retirees for the end of the school year who were part of the consent agenda, including longtime Buckeye custodian Kathy Arsena, 25-year duty aide Susan Lederle, 30-year teacher Marcia Bailey and 34-year school psychologist Lisa Lorubbio. Best wishes were also offered to Charlene Monigold, who resigned from the cafeteria.

For the Hannah E. Mullins School of Practical Nursing, board accepted the resignations of full-time instructor and part-time program coordinator Ann Cope and full-time faculty member Steven Snyder. Jamie Pytash was changed to part-time program coordinator/instructor and hours for full-time faculty member Cheryl Webber were changed from 32 hours per week to 40 hours per week for March, April and May.

The board approved Kasey Jamison as a volunteer for Salem Quaker Club 2.0, accepted Sophie Faulenbach of Germany as a foreign exchange student for the 2021-2022 school year and Isaure Codorniuas of France and Diego Sapora of Italy as cultural academic student exchange students for the 2022-2023 school year, and approved a list of classified, substitute and certified substitutes.

Open enrollment was approved for the next school year in areas where enrollment permits. Applications must be returned to the superintendent’s office no later than May 1 for optimal consideration.