Residents are invited to a public meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Middle School cafeteria to review the draft of the Howland Middle School's Safe Route to School program.
According to township trustee Matthew Vansuch, the township has been awarded a grant by the Ohio Department of Transportation to develop a plan for the middle school. Parents and guardians were surveyed as to the barriers and obstacles to safely getting their children to school. The anonymous results were tabulated and a local committee of stakeholders with an ODOT consultant.
''We're looking for public input concerning specific recommendations,'' Vansuch said.
According to Vansuch, consultants with ODOT observed dropping off and loading students in the morning and afternoon at the middle school, recalibrated the current program and have come up with a new program.
''The new program takes less time and has a faster response and report time than the older model,'' Vansuch said. ''When the final draft is written, we wanted to make sure the public had a chance to give their input.''
Howland Township and the Howland Local School District are working together to make safe routes to school for students a priority, officials said. The goal of the committee is to draft and implement a school travel plan that accomplishes these objectives.