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Safe Routes to School coordinator secures $2.56 million in grants since 2019; position funded through 2027
Summary
Tim Brackett, Richfield's Safe Routes to School coordinator, told the board the position is funded through February 2027 and the district and city have secured about $2.56 million for Safe Routes initiatives since 2019; the presentation covered bike education, infrastructure projects and a trauma-informed engagement curriculum.
Tim Brackett, the district's Safe Routes to School coordinator, updated the Richfield Public Schools board on March 17 on program milestones, grant funding and planned infrastructure work.
Brackett said the Safe Routes coordinator position is funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation through February 2027. "These are all state dollars. So regardless of what happens with federal grants, we know that this position is funded through February 2027, and that is secure," he said.
He told the board the district was the second-highest scoring applicant statewide in the most recent MnDOT boost-grant round and that Richfield has won three boost grants since the program started. Brackett said the district and city together have secured approximately $2,560,000 for Safe Routes initiatives since February 2019 and that the program returns roughly $5 for every $1 of local in-kind support, which he described as staff time and other contributions.
Brackett reviewed the program's education, engineering and engagement work: bike and balance-bike fleets and trainings that reached about 2,000 students in 2024; a planned permanent upgrade of a demonstration project near Centennial Elementary to create a curb-protected multi-use path; and a planned upgrade to walking and biking access at the RDLS and STEM campus this summer. He said an adaptive bicycle and equipment library will be created with recently awarded funds and that the program partners with Parks & Rec, Richfield Police and Hennepin County on community events and infrastructure grants.
The coordinator also described a trauma-informed engagement curriculum developed with MnDOT boost funding to acknowledge students' pandemic and other traumatic experiences when designing encouragement and outreach. He said the curriculum was piloted with social workers and will be shared with other Safe Routes programs in the state.
Board members asked technical and operational questions about the Centennial demonstration project's permanent form, whether sidewalks or a wider multi-use path would be installed, and maintenance responsibilities. Brackett described the permanent installation as curb-protected and extending from Bloomington to Cedar, with the mixed-use path set at a width appropriate for both walking and biking; he said city public works will clear and maintain the new curb-protected path.
No formal board action was taken on the Safe Routes presentation; it was an informational update. Brackett invited board members to participate in upcoming encouragement events and said he would follow up with date confirmations.
Ending: The board praised collaboration with the city and MnDOT and asked staff to continue coordination on Sheridan Hills, Penn Avenue redesign engagement and planned spring/summer improvements.
