KAYSVILLE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A group of local moms with an unusual way to make their kids walk to school safe. Right now the kids walk on a road without a sidewalk, but these moms are working to fix that.
Angels street is busy, made even more congested by two new schools in the neighborhood. Snow Horse Elementary opened a few years ago and Centennial Junior High School is in its first year.
Sara Thatcher has children at both schools and she drives them due to the sketchy route, "There is no safe route for my kids because angel's street is very narrow."
Having no sidewalk is a side effect of Kaysville's growth.
Kaysville's Mayor Steve Hiatt told ABC4, "There is no new development and its created a hazardous situation for people who have lived there."
When the homes along Angels Street were originally built, they didn't have to put in a sidewalk. Without them, nearly 300 kids have to be bused to school. That costs the school district $58,000 every year.
Melanie Bingham, another mom working for a sidewalk, pointed out what that money could be spent on, "$58,000 could pay for an additional teacher, could pay for textbooks it could pay for supplies."
ABC4 wanted to know, who is responsible for the sidewalks this street so desperately needs?
We talked to everyone involved and the answer was surprising. The school district isn't responsible. Kaysville City isn't either. The responsibility rests on the individual homeowners.
Thatcher raised a concern with that, "To go to a homeowner and ask them to fork out money for these sidewalks - most homeowners don't have that money to do, so it's a community project">
A community project, with a compromise. The city a nd the group of mom's looking for safety will split the cost, $31,000 from the community and another $31,000 from Kaysville City.
Raising the money comes in a very interesting and definitely creative way. They are holding what they call a "Poop-a-Palooza!" People can buy spots on a field, if a horse "does his business" near your spot you win $500. If the horse gets a bit of stage fright and doesn't "relieve himself" everyone who bought a spot will go into a bucket and a winner will be drawn.
There will also be a big party to celebrate the schools and raise the money needed to make the walk to school for Snow Horse and Centennial kids safe.
