Safe Routes to School program reports expanded bike, walking programs and grant applications to Las Cruces board

Ashley Curry, Safe Routes to School coordinator for Las Cruces Public Schools, told the board at its June 3 work session that the district has expanded staffing and programming and is pursuing grants to extend the program through 2028. "We're just here with good news," Curry said, opening the presentation.

The presentation outlined staffing and programming changes: two full-time staff were hired this year (bringing the team to three full-time employees), two part-time employees were added, and the program hosted a League of American Bicyclists instructor training that certified local instructors. The program said it taught pedestrian and bicycle safety to every third-grade class in the district through a four-part curriculum and ran a multi-week “Riding for Focus” pilot at Lynn Middle School that included in-school riding instruction and neighborhood rides.

Curry described a yearlong data-collection effort: student travel tallies were completed districtwide, producing a dataset that district staff and external partners can use to measure the effect of future infrastructure projects. Curry said 64 percent of elementary students responded that they would walk or bike to school if safe routes were available. She said walking-school-bus events recorded 22,171 participation incidents across 732 events this year.

On engineering and infrastructure, Curry said Safe Routes conducts walk audits with city and county partners and flagged a high-priority intersection near Peachtree Hills and Hornada where the Metropolitan Planning Organization and local engineers will meet to recommend improvements. She described the challenge where city/county jurisdiction is unclear and said the program invited both agencies to coordinate.

Curry outlined funding and operations: the work is primarily funded through New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) grants, with a small district match. She said the current grant funding runs through Sept. 30, 2026, and the program is awaiting notice on a competitive $700,000 grant that would extend funding to Sept. 30, 2028; the district applied for the $700,000 in partnership with Doña Ana County. Curry also said the program applied for a $50,000 county grant to extend a trail in front of Columbia Elementary so students could access the campus by trail. She said a previously promised $80,000 from the New Mexico Department of Health was pulled before award.

Curry said Safe Routes partners include Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Velo Cruces/The Hub community bike shop, Southwest Disposal (which donates bikes), the Outride Foundation (for middle-school fleets), the city, county, MPO and the Department of Health. She said the program will move its office to the Bell property while keeping a portable bike classroom at Lynn and will host the New Mexico Safe Routes to School Summit in Las Cruces.

Board members and Superintendent Ruiz asked questions and praised the outreach; Vice President Nolan asked whether some schools were not safe to walk (Curry said Fair Acres currently lacks a safe route and Columbia has not had a walking program because of location). Secretary Wofford and others asked about bike maintenance; Curry said the Hub community bike shop and community events provide repairs and teach bike mechanics and that the Family Bike Fiesta subjects included bike repair clinics.

The presentation concluded with a request to board members to continue support for partnerships and to note the program's pending grant applications and planned summer camps and teen programs.