Wednesday is International Walk to School Day. Thirteeen St. Pete elementary schools will be participating along with St. Pete Police officers.
Officers will walk with groups and talk to students along the way. In some areas police cruisers will block traffic at cross streets with their lights on.
City Council members will join students at three of St. Pete’s public schools. City Council chair Charlie Gerdes will walk with students at Westgate Elementary. Bill Dudley will participate in the event at Shore Acres Elementary and Karl Nurse will join students at Melrose Elementary. St. Pete City Council candidate Lisa Wheeler-Brown will join Nurse for that walk.
The event is sponsored globally by the National Center for Safe Routes to School and includes schools from more than 40 countries. The international event is scheduled to coincide with International Walk to School Month.
Fairmount Park Elementary will host its walk on Friday. City Council member Wengay Newton is expected to participate in that walk along with St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue Division Chief Mike Domante and Deputy Fire Marshal Lt. Steven Lawrence.
Schools participating on Wednesday include Bay Point, Bay Vista Fundamental, Campbell Park, Lakewood, Maximo, Melrose, John M. Sexton, North Shore, Shore Acres, Azalea, Fairmount Park, Northwest, and Westgate Elementary.
Volunteers, students and parents will gather at pre-designated meeting points near each school and walk together as a group. Each walk is expected to take about 10 to 30 minutes.
The global event started in 1997 and eventually launched an entire movement for year-round safe routes to school. The event helps communities by encouraging children to walk or bicycle to school safely.
In previous years the city’s police department has offered K-9 and traffic enforcement units, Road Patrol volunteers and its Youth Education Section for the event.
In a statement from the city, officials ask that motorists remain vigilant when driving near schools to ensure kids stay safe while they walk or bike to school.
