Dear Editor,
I hope that the Gilroy Unified School District will reconsider
and apply for the
Safe Routes to School federal grant.
Dear Editor,
I hope that the Gilroy Unified School District will reconsider and apply for the
Safe Routes to School federal grant. If it is too late this year I think they should make it a priority and start preparing the paperwork for next year.
Maybe Congressman Mike Honda, who is now on the influential Housing Appropriations Committee, can help out. I would not worry about the $5,000 per school engineering study. That is not required as pointed out in the article by Dispatch Staff Writer Emily Alpert. Other cities have received the grant without the costly study.
This should be a priority because this is a safety concern for students at all schools. Ensuring that children have the necessary safety programs and caution signs is a big issue that is faced by everyone who is trying to get their children to and from school.
When crossing guard Arnold Cessna has to dodge cars daily in front of Glenview Elementary School and states, “They’re waiting for an accident to happen.” This should get the attention of ALL concerned citizens. And, of course, an accident has already happened to Julio Gonzales as he was walking to school. He lost his young life in accident near his school.
Bryan Trejo also lost his life this summer crossing a street in Gilroy and never got the chance to start kindergarten. Going to the Trejo Family home shortly after the accident to give my condolences and support and seeing the family mourn the loss of their young son, and then having Julio Gonzales’ family do the same a few months later should count more than a $5,000 engineering study.
I live near Gilroy High and trying to get past the high school on my way to work in the morning takes some skillful driving that not everyone has in the early morning.
If the grant money could pay for crosswalks that light up when people are crossing, that would be a big help. That is what happens in the crosswalks downtown.
Another good program of picking up and dropping off students has been implemented by Rucker Principal Barbara Keesaw. There is one designated area where parents line up and drop off and pick up students. This was not popular with some parents at the beginning because the system was not efficient, but now it only takes a few minutes. All Rucker staff is out there on their designated days to help make the system work. This was a priority set by the new principal at Rucker because she saw the chaos without any system and had lost a student at a previous school and was not going to have it happen again.
I hope that Gilroy Unified School District feels the same.
Arthur C. Barron Sr., Gilroy
The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a well-written letter.
