The Georgia Department of Transportation is inviting educators, school administrators, local officials, parent/teacher association representatives, and interested persons from across the state to a free Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) forum.  The event – the first of its kind in Georgia – will be held from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., Friday, June 6, at Decatur High School and offer a variety of workshop sessions – from how to spice up your SRTS event to how to conduct a walkability review.

Participants will hear from SRTS champions, advocates and other leaders.  During lunch, this year’s Resource Center Partners of the Year will be introduced and Katherine Moore, Sustainability Growth Manager for the Georgia Conservancy, will discuss the Conservancy’s work on school siting.

Registration details and complete information on the state’s SRTS program are available at:  http://www.saferoutesga.org/content/first-statewide-safe-routes-school-forum-friday-june-6-2014 .  Registration closes Tuesday, June 3.

Launched in 2009, Georgia DOT’s SRTS Resource Center assists schools and communities with education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation, planning, and other non-construction-related SRTS activities.  Efforts have focused on primary and middle schools (grades K-8), but now are being expanded to include high schools.  Georgia’s SRTS Resource Center is centered on the concepts of the international safe routes to school movement, the purposes of which are to encourage children to walk and bike to school and also to improve safety in the vicinity of schools.  SRTS encourages and helps empower communities to make walking and bicycling to school a safe and routine activity once again.