Over the past year I have fought Fairfax County Public Schools Transportation and School Board over the safety of the trail that our students are forced to walk to get to South County Middle and High School. While there are 4 buses that stop in our immediate neighborhood, our 5 streets are designated as walkers and not allowed on any of the buses. There are a total of 23 middle school and 80 high school students (numbers provided by Fairfax County Board Member Karen Corbett Sanders on August 23, 2016) and Fairfax County does not have the "budget" to realign the current buses nor assign a new bus for these few students.

In an e-mail to myself from Karen Corbett Sanders on August 23rd, she states "There are a total of 23 middle school students and 88 high school students that live in this area. This would require another bus run which is not currently budgeted for."

Prior School Board Member Elizabeth Bradsher told NBC4 on August 24, 2016 "Over 111 kids -- they can find that bus. The budget is there. I know it's there. I've been on that school board. I've sat on that board."

This has been a years worth of effort for me to advocate the safety of our children and the board is not listening.

http://www.fox5dc.com/news/155281545-story​

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Virginia-Parents-Say-Walk-to-School-for-Children-Without-Bus-Route-is-Unsafe-391238961.html?_osource=mobilesharebar

On October 13, 2015 the following was sent to the head of transportation and the school board.

"Ms Furby I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me this morning regarding the path by which my granddaughter has to walk to school. I will address your points in the order you present them. We did start the walk and it was not light at 0648. It was before sunrise, which was at 0716 today. It was getting lighter but when we started the walk, it was dark. While there were sidewalks in the Newington community, it leads to a path that is partially paved. The pavement ends before Silverbrook. I will address my concern with that in the following paragraphs. While you say that there is “sufficient lighting”, that is a subjective observation on your part as well as the others who were with you. There is no OBJECTIVE standard regarding foot-candles (ft*c) of light deemed to be sufficient to allow minors to traverse before daylight/sunrise. When I asked each of you, would you allow YOUR 7th grade daughter to traverse this, the answer given by Mr Campo was words to the effect “Well, ma’am, we have had NO incidents since this path was lit for South County Secondary”. Neither you nor Mr McCraken answered me. You just looked at me and asked if the Community Associations were involved in addressing the transportation issue. Effectively, none of you answered my question with regards to whether or not your daughters (if you had any) would be allowed or safe in traversing this route. Mr Campo went on to attempt to disparage me by saying every answer he gave was responded by me with another question and that was because the questions I asked were not answered. Answers were given but they were not salient to the question I asked. Your observation about runners was part of our conversation during our walk to which I replied this isn’t about adults, this is about the SAFETY of a 12 year old girl walking alone. Mr Campo’s discussion about the Archery Program consisted of his calling and talking to someone in the Wildlife/Archery office but his command of the safety regimen was absent in the conversation. His recap was that there have been no safety incidents therefore it is safe. The rules for the Archery program, from the Fairfax County Website state: “Archery Groups are permitted to conduct deer management at their assigned site Monday through Saturday during the Archery Program Season. Legal hunting hours in Virginia are 30 minutes prior to sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. Sunday hunting is not allowed in the parks.” Interesting that this trail traverses the permitted hunting areas and that the walking times for Fairfax County Students are well within the hunting times. Safe until not safe is an unacceptable standard, especially when it involves our children. When I candidly asked Mr Campo for his support in asking to have the Newington path removed from the hunting allowed zones, he refused on the grounds that nothing has happened therefore it is safe. I find it so completely disappointing that “safe until not safe” is the policy of the representative from the Safety administration within Fairfax County. Your comment about proximity to residences was also discussed. The path does have some town homes along a portion of it but they are surrounded by 6ft fences and wooded areas. That means there is in safe haven for the children in the event of assault/sexual assault and in fact, they could be pulled into one of those areas and assaulted and no one would be able to see or assist. I find little comfort in the limited amount of town homes along the way. I did note a few items that you do not have listed in your reply, some of which I asked for assistance with and as you astutely pointed out, you directed me to talk to the homeowners to garner support. I would have thought that those who are entrusted by Fairfax County to attend to the safety of our children would be willing to help but I didn’t get that support. How unfortunate. The following items need addressing: 1) Proximity to hunting areas. Signs are posted but the rules by Fairfax County do little to address the safety to children who must traverse these wooded areas. The Wildlife office should work in partnership with the Fairfax County Schools to ensure that PROACTIVE measures are in place in areas such as these. One idea is to not allowing any hunting within the areas which are “authorized walking routes” for the school children. Saying “nothing has happened” indicates the rule of chance governs safety and that is unacceptable in any community. 2) The “authorized path” traverses Fairfax County parkland. The below included sign states the park is closed at dark. How is it that a park is closed at dark yet it is an authorized walking area for students? If anything happens, the discussion will be that the students shouldn’t be there before sunrise or after sunset. Students traversing this area are doing so in violation of this sign. If in fact this is an “authorized path”, why not add a bar to the sign noting the exception for school children traversing during darkness (prior to sunrise or after sunset in the fall for after school activities)? Adding this covers the children for when they are in the park beyond what are the posted hours. Note that I put “authorized path” in parenthesis because there is nothing provided in writing that actually states what the authorized paths are and where they are located and who authorized them….small but important details. 3) Path safety - The paved trail does not go all the way from the court to Silverbrook. It stops short and is met by uneven gravel drainage areas and pole gates. In inclement weather, the students are required to go over these poles that present themselves as a tripping hazard. Additionally, when water is flowing during heavy rains, this area will not be safe nor will it be safe during heavy snows. Your response to me was that that safety belongs to me as a parent. It think it is very simple for Fairfax County to unlock the pole gate or remove or add an area wherein the students don’t have to walk over a gate which is meant to restrict movement. It is unsafe and hazardous during icy conditions. The other path safety issue is forcing children to walk this path during storms. I relayed the story from my childhood wherein four of my older sister’s friends were killed while traversing a wooded area such as this. They were walking to the high school when a storm rolled through and lightening hit a tree. The girls were walking the path and the lightening strike killed all four, one of which was decapitated because she was wearing a necklace. Your response was that we need to make alternate plans in the event of storms. My response was I work in Laurel, MD and weather can be sunny there and stormy here. You just stared at me. No response. I got your message. My plan should take that into account while all other parents get to out source their safety plans to a safe bus ride. Our community is not so lucky. Noted. 4) Construction Zones – When we arrived at South County High School, the “authorized path” included walking through the athletic fields wherein a sign on the gate says “Construction Area – Do not Enter – Authorized Personnel Only”. How is it that this is an authorized route? There is no sign exempting children or saying that they are “authorized personnel”. Either remove the sign or add an additional sign that indicates that school children walking to school are in fact considered “Authorized Personnel”. If anything happened to a school child walking in this area, everyone would ask why are school children traversing an area that indicates it is a construction zone? What or WHO authorized them to be in that area to start with? In summary, we did walk and I absolutely appreciate that you came out as early as you did “walk the walk” with me. We both are passionate about our positions and I think you made your points. I don’t agree with them but I respect them. If in fact school children are supposed to be safe, the areas I noted must be addressed and I will remain diligent in ensuring they are addressed because I am not willing to accept a standard of “safe is safe because nothing has happened”. I do not want my grandchildren to be the ones who become the reason someone finally recognizes and addresses unsafe conditions. My recommendation and request is that the four items I note are remedied in order to make this a safe and acceptable walking route (although nothing addresses the potential for sexual assault): 1) Restrict hunting surrounding the path the children must walk to school. Hunting in areas wherein children are directed to safely traverse are mutually exclusive. 2) Change the sign regarding Fairfax County Park hours as it pertains to school children. Indicate that school children are allowed to be present after dark because their walk to get to school on time with the adjusted school hours means children enter that parkland before sunrise as we noted today. 3) Fix the trip hazards so the children don’t have to climb over pole gates and ropes where the paved path ends and the gravel and dirt path begin. 4) Amend the signage to indicate school children can walk in the construction zone. If they are authorized personnel, the sign should indicate as such, otherwise we are telling the kids that they can disregard a safety designation. I look forward to your reply."

Almost 8 months to the day a girl was attempted to be sexually assaulted on the trail on her way to school. Safe is safe because nothing has happened is not an acceptable policy for the safety of our children. Please help us make our elected officials work together to provide our children a safe way to get to and from school.

Thank you for your time.