Mississippi SRTS State Network
Mississippi is one of the twenty jurisdictions participating in the SRTS National Partnership State Network Project. The SRTS State Network Organizer works for their sponsoring organization, which is under contract with the SRTS National Partnership.

Mississippi State Network Organizer
Karen Mogridge
Bike Walk Mississippi
(662) 801-0176
mississippi@saferoutespartnership.org
www.bikewalkmississippi.org
Complete Streets Fact Sheet

Mississippi SRTS Program
Managed by the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), Mississippi’s federally funded Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is the source for state coordinator contact details, federal SRTS funding amounts, SRTS applications and guidelines, and state SRTS program information.

Mississippi DOT SRTS Coordinator
Cookie Leffler
(601) 359-1454
cleffler@mdot.state.ms.us
www.gomdot.com

Click on any of the menu items below for more information.
Mississippi SRTS Federal Funding
Application Guidelines
State Advisory Committee
State Outreach Programs
Evaluation Methods
Success Stories and Best Practices
Other Statewide and Regional Programs
Mississippi Partner Affiliates

Mississippi SRTS Federal Funding
Mississippi’s SRTS funding from FY2005-2009* totals $6,506,087 and includes the following annual apportionments:

2005 Actual	2006 Actual	2007 Actual	2008 Actual	2009 Actual
$1,000,000	$990,000	$1,196,855	$1,471,512	$1,847,720

* Funding for SRTS is being continued into FY2010 at FY2009 levels.

Application Guidelines
Mississippi’s Safe Routes to School program has already had two application cycles. The second round of awards were made on March 24, 2009 totaling $3,070,307 and went to 14 communities around the state. To date, MDOT has awarded $6 million to 24 communities representing 71 schools and three statewide organizations.

Our first community, Amory, has broken ground and begun construction. Other communities are completing plans and nearing the construction phase. Most communities have launched noninfrastructure activities. The Gulfport Police Department has been working in Gulfport and Harrison County elementary and middle schools teaching pedestrian safety and holding instructive bicycle rodeos. These events will continue throughout the upcoming school year as well as enforcement activities. In Amory, students have participated in walking events while learning about pedestrian safety; middle and high school students are working on documenting the success of Amory’s SRTS program. The City of Oxford kicked off Walking Wednesdays following International Walk to School Day in 2007. This program continues to grow as students enjoy walking and bicycling to school escorted by University of Mississippi athletes. Starkville and Hernando held successful Walk to School events over the school year. Greenwood instituted a “U+2” campaign encouraging students to walk only 3 people wide on sidewalks. Long Beach’s gifted class planned and secured support for its SRTS program and kicked the program off with a successful school wide walking challenge.

Mississippi offers two types of SRTS funding programs, each with their own grant applications. The Comprehensive Safe Routes Program is for those schools, cities, and communities that have completed or are in the process of completing a Safe Routes plan and are ready to begin implementing the program. There is no maximum request or award for this type of application.

The Non-infrastructure Only Program is designed for statewide, regional and local governments and non-profit organizations that wish to engage in noninfrastructure activities and programs only, like Safe Kids or MS State Department of Health (MSDH). There is no maximum request or award for non-infrastructure only applications.

State Advisory Committee
Mississippi’s SRTS Steering Committee was formed in June 2006 and met for the first time in July 2006. The goal of the committee is to collaborate with statewide stakeholders to ensure Safe Routes program outcomes are comprehensive and effective. In 2007, committee members directly involved in SRTS activities were reclassified as partners and have been working closely with the state’s SRTS coordinator on many projects. Other members of the committee make themselves available to the program on an ‘as needed’ basis. One member of the committee is piloting an enforcement program in his hometown.

State Outreach Programs
Four statewide organizations—Safe Kids Mississippi, MS Department of Health, MS Department of Education (MDE), and Bike Walk Mississippi (BWM) have been awarded funding and will offer various outreach programs statewide. The MDE completed and added to its Health in Action online database K-8 lesson plans centered on the goals of SRTS. These plans fulfill the health instruction requirements for K-8 students. In the summer of 2009, MDE is developing and administering a statewide Crossing Guard Training Program, complete with curriculum, training and approved equipment kits. The MSDH hired a SRTS coordinator and launched a website featuring SRTS education and encouragement activities and assistance available to schools. Some examples of offerings include bicycle rodeos and walking school buses. Bike Walk Mississippi (BWM) has contracted with MDOT in support of the SRTS program. BWM is helping with a quarterly newsletter and an education and encouragement guide that will offer ideas for these types of noninfrastructure activities based on MS examples to others in the state. BWM developed a toolkit with sample letters, press releases, flyers that will accompany goodies for those schools registering for Walk to School Day on www.walktoschool.org. BWM organized the certification of 40 individuals in the state by the League of American Bicyclists who will then teach bicycle safety education in SRTS schools around the state. BWM also organized a bicycle and pedestrian safety calendar contest in the fall of 2009. Children and school administration were very excited. BWM will assist with the planning of the first annual Mississippi SRTS conference to be held in fall of 2010.

Mississippi’s SRTS Coordinator has been trained to teach the National Center for Safe Routes to School’s National Course. The state coordinator is available to meet with communities that would like to learn more about Safe Routes, to make a formal presentation about the program to a group, and to teach the National Course on SRTS.

Media Relations Efforts
Local communities are encouraged to talk to their local media as they begin planning and move into implementation of the Safe Routes program.

Evaluation Methods
Communities awarded funding are required to complete evaluations of their projects beginning with the collection of baseline data. They are required to complete the Student Travel Tally and the Parent Survey developed by the National Center for Safe Routes to School at the beginning and end of their award period and to provide the outcomes of these data collection tools to MDOT. Semi-annual progress reports will be required. The SRTS coordinator and District engineers designated LPA coordinators oversee all projects to evaluate the success of infrastructure projects and noninfrastructure programs.

Success Stories and Best Practices
Amory, Mississippi: Awarded Grant to Lessen Traffic Volume
All Amory schools are within a 2-mile range of one another. It is a small town where children actually could walk to school without parents having to worry. Yet the closer one gets to the school, the more dangerous it becomes due to high traffic volume. School administrators and the community as a whole are very interested in the project. Twenty nine percent of the students at one school alone have elevated body mass indexes. So, the school is actively implementing programs to address the need for physical activity. In Amory, the SRTS project works in unison with a Community Development Block Grant that was awarded to build an access road to remove busses from the routes students use. Amory Middle School was voted by Health Magazine in 2008 as the 2nd healthiest school in America.

Meridian, Mississippi: Celebrated Calendar Winners
Meridian, Crestwood Elementary, participated in the 2009 Calendar Contest (Winter 2009). Three students from Meridian were selected to become a part of Bike Smart/Walk Smart 2010 Calendar. Meridian embraced their stars with a front page story in the local paper and held an assembly to recognize their winners. A call from the Crestwood Principal revealed just how much excitement the calendar brought to the entire school and community. They’ve committed to putting more focus on SRTS events going forward and look forward to 2010 Walk to School Day!

Contact:
Cookie Leffler
Mississippi DOT SRTS Coordinator
(601) 359-1454
cleffler@mdot.state.ms.us 

Other Statewide and Regional Programs
Bike Walk Mississippi

Mississippi Department of Education’s Office of Healthy Schools

Mississippi State Department of Health

Mississippi Municipal League

Safe Kids Mississippi

Mississippi Partner Affiliates
Find out which organizations in your state have pledged their support for the Safe Routes to School movement.