Walking School Bus

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Story Published: Oct 8, 2009 at 5:28 PM MST

Story Updated: Oct 8, 2009 at 5:28 PM MST

By Danica Lawrence

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IDAHO FALLS - You've seen parents carpool kids to school everyday- but Falls Valley Elementary School mom and dad's have found a more active version of the "carpool." They call it- the "Walking School Bus."

"I used to be followed around by strange people a lot, but when the Walking School bus started, I felt better," says Falls Valley Elementary school student Joshua Truesdell.

"I feel safe when I walk home," adds another student.

The program started with a mother worried about her children walking to school past registered criminals living in her neighborhood.

"I got a phone call, she said there are sex offenders on my children's route to school, what are you going to do about it," described the School District 93 Health and Safety coordinator, Guy Bliesner.

That call was three years ago, with some research, now the program has grown to include 30 volunteers- and there is funding through the Safe Routes to Schools program.

"Using a portion of the money they are going to give us to put a coordinator on staff to kind of run things for more than one school," explains Bliesner.

That grant money goes toward volunteer uniforms, orange flags, and incentives, like gift certificates to get more people involved.

These yellow jackets serve as the visual medium for the walking school bus program, and the volunteers here want to see more yellow jackets in your neighborhood.

"We have a lot of parents that just walk half way to school and wave to their children and walk back, we have some hat walk clear to school and walk back, we have some that ride their bike," says Walking School Bus program coordinator, Julie Sidell.

Health and Safety coordinator, Guy Bliesner met with the Safe Routes to Schools director today to discuss expanding the "Walking School Bus" program to more schools.

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