Award of Excellence: Walking School Bus

The San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) wins a 2019 Award of Excellence in Resident and Client Services for the Walking School Bus program, which creates a safe route for students to walk to school while engaging with their community leaders and law enforcement. Nominated from among the NAHRO Award of Merit winners each year, the Awards of Excellence winners are chosen by national juries and honored at the annual National Conference and Exhibition in October. They represent the very best in innovative programs in assisted housing and community development.   

After several San Antonio parents voiced concerns about the safety of allowing young students walking to school by themselves in a high-traffic area, the SAHA’s Jobs Plus program decided to partner with the City of San Antonio’s Metro Health District to create a pilot Walking School Bus Initiative. They selected Sarah King Elementary, one of the larger elementary schools in the area with a route close to traffic, as their partner. In addition to having a route close to traffic, the school lacked a parent-teacher organization and had been struggling with absenteeism and tardiness. 

A walking school bus is exactly how it sounds. It’s a group of children who walk to school together with one or more adults chaperoning the trip. To kickstart the program, stakeholders formed a committee with representatives from the Metro Health district, SAHA’s Jobs Plus program, Sarah King Elementary School, City of Antonio’s Vision Zero, Safe Kids San Antonio, Alamo Area Council of Government, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization.  

A walking school bus is exactly how it sounds. It’s a group of children who walk to school together with one or more adults chaperoning the trip. To kickstart the program, stakeholders formed a committee with representatives from the Metro Health district, SAHA’s Jobs Plus program, Sarah King Elementary School, City of Antonio’s Vision Zero, Safe Kids San Antonio, Alamo Area Council of Government, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization.  

First, the committee designated an assembly point for the walking school bus, then determined  a walkability assessment of the route the “bus” would take to Sarah King. They assessed the condition of sidewalks, parking buffers and areas with low traffic, and discovered that intersection safety, student walking behavior, and sidewalk obstructions all needed improvement. The San Antonio Police Department SAFFE Officers (SAPD) were eager to get involved with the program and offered to assist walking the children to school.  

The walking school bus launched in January 2018. Since children were at first hesitant to walk with unfamiliar adults and law enforcement officers, the program got off to a slow start, with just five children walking with volunteers to school. Soon, though, the walking bus got the attention of the community as many as 60 kids began to show up twice a week. Agencies such as the San Antonio Fire Department and Animal Care Services expressed interest in volunteering. . Due to the overwhelming response in volunteers, the committee created a rotating schedule to not overly burden a specific group.  

The walking school bus continues to offer weekly activities and provides a safe route for students to school. It’s also helping ensure students attend class. Recently, SAHA partnered with a municipal court judge to host workshops and outreach to residents who have children who are chronically absent. Through this program, SAHA created better access to school for the community’s youth and help build relationships with local leaders, including law enforcement officers.