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Shakopee High CAPS students lead Safe Routes to School grant work; city wins design assistance award
Summary
Three Shakopee High School CAPS students helped collect school and community input and supported city staff in applying for MnDOT Safe Routes to School grants; staff reported the city received a design assistance award for a corridors study on 10th Avenue and submitted multiple infrastructure grant applications.
Three seniors in Shakopee High School’s CAPS Human Services Academy presented the students’ Safe Routes to School outreach work and reported their role in the city’s grant applications at the Jan. 21 council meeting.
Students Malak Behid, Owen Rood and Erica Sanders told councilmembers they led outreach to schools, collected nearly 300 survey responses, coordinated flyer distribution and secured letters of support from affected school principals. The outreach focused on several problem areas for walking and biking — including parts of 10th Avenue near East and West Middle Schools, walk/bike connections near SunPath/ Sweeney Elementary and pedestrian crossings near Shakopee High School.
City staff confirmed the city received a MnDOT Safe Routes to School design assistance grant to study and design improvements on 10th Avenue (including options such as narrower travel lanes, shoulder enhancements or a three‑lane section with center turn lane to calm traffic) and that the city submitted multiple infrastructure grant applications addressing crossings and sidewalks at several schools. Students said the response rate and school engagement varied by campus and timing (the outreach coincided with the winter break and some schools had stronger in‑school participation). The students also described distribution tactics (office flyers, QR codes and a high‑school PA announcement) that boosted responses.
Councilmembers praised the students’ work, thanked staff for the partnership with CAPS, and asked staff to continue pursuing grant funding and refine design options based on the student‑collected input.
City staff said the design assistance award will fund engineering study and concept design; staff will return with design recommendations and a funding plan if infrastructure grant awards follow.
