Alaska is starting a statewide Safe Routes to School network, with a kickoff Dec. 3

Alaska is starting a statewide Safe Routes to School Community of Practice, a network of professionals and partners working to make travel to and from school safer, more accessible and healthier for students in rural and urban communities, the Department of Education & Early Development announced Wednesday.

Julius Adolfsson, the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' statewide bike and pedestrian coordinator, and Dr. Jess Doherty of the Department of Health are listed as contacts for the network.

Safe Routes to School helps children walk and bike to school more safely and easily, according to the announcement.

The Community of Practice flyer says members can share ideas, learn from other Alaska communities and hear about funding opportunities. It lists winter travel, rural and Tribal transportation, and accessibility among possible topics. The state program page says the network should include Tribal and local governments, schools and public health agencies.

The flyer says anyone interested in safer school travel is welcome, including school staff, planners, law enforcement and parents. A state form takes sign-ups and lists the kickoff meeting for Dec. 3 from 10 to 11:30 am on Teams.

Alaska received about $8.5 million in dedicated federal Safe Routes to School funding from fiscal 2005 until that funding ended in 2012, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The state's Transportation Alternatives Program can still fund such projects, but awarded projects are developed and managed by the state transportation department and the program issues no grants to communities directly.

State materials name no funding amount for the new network.