BRANDON, Fla. — Hillsborough County’s Safe Routes to School Program is soliciting parent feedback this week, as the county conducts its annual study of safety for students that walk and bike to school.

Five schools are picked every year based on the number of kids that walk and bike to school, the business of the area the school is in, and various social and economic factors.


What You Need To Know


Mann Middle School in Brandon was one of the schools chosen for this year’s study, which is tucked between the busy Parsons Avenue and Kingsway Highway.

“I’ve had them go around me,” said Minnie Griffin, a school crossing guard outside of Mann Middle School. “You just saw the guy go around me. They don’t care about that. They’re going where they want to go, and you are delaying them.”

Griffin has been a crossing guard for less than a year, and has already seen enough to know the dangers for kids that walk and bike to school.

Hillsborough County says it will review parent feedback in the study, then address school safety issues in the short term and long term.

First it says it will make quick, cost effective changes near area schools to include re-stripped crosswalks, more room for bike lanes and lowering speed limits in a 2-mile radius around the school.

Then, Hillsborough County Safety and Mobility Manager April Flores says the county will work to implement long-term, more complex changes.

“The following few years we work on the design and implementation of more robust improvements like raised crosswalks, flashing beacons,” said Flores.

View more information on the Hillsborough County Mobility Safety program.

The study for Mann Middle School ends on Thursday.