This petition is to show the neighborhood and resident support for Charleston County to approve the installation of a second bicycle rack on the Billy Swails side of Jennie Moore Elementary.

Our family, with three kids who go to JME, bike from our neighborhood, along Billy Swails to school every day we're able since they were in Kindergarten. Over the past 4 years, the number of walkers and bikers to school has only increased, especially with the completion of Moore's Landing, the new DR Horton neighborhood between our neighborhood and JME.

Since the start of this school year, there have consistently been between 8 and 12 bikes daily at the bike rack on the bus line side of school. To my knowledge, all but one or maybe two of these are kids who come from the north along Billy Swails. Today, there were 12 bikes in the rack and I know of at least 3 or 4 other students who did not bike today. I believe as the school year goes on, the heat dissipates, and new residents become more comfortable, the number of bikers could increase. For reference the bike rack is "full" with about 12 bikes. See picture attached.

Every day, the bikers must get off their bikes and walk them across the entire front of the school while other students are being dropped off from the car line as the only bike rack at JME is on the opposite side of school by the Bus drop off. This is the only safe path to that side of school as there is no sidewalk along Bulrush Basket Lane. This walk across the car drop off line can sometimes get crowded, disruptive, and unsafe. Plus, it adds no less than 5-10 minutes of time for the bikers to walk across the school area, park and lock their bikes, and then walk back to the entrance.

A bigger issue is at the end of the school day upon pickup. Walking back across the front of school to Billy Swails for some reason is more disruptive than in the morning. And if we walk/bike across the bus lines, it’s causes a little traffic jam there too. And the main concern has to do with safety. When we ride on Bulrush Basket Lane from the bus area to Billy Swails, we have busses and cars behind us and without fail, some parents who try to go around us. Again, there is no sidewalk on Bulrush Basket Lane.

Over the past four years, we've spoken with school administration, teachers, safety officers, and others. We've been told that there haven't been enough consistent daily bikers to warrant a rack to be placed on the Billy Swails side of JME. I firmly believe that with the addition of Moore's Landing, there absolutely are enough bikers at this time. In fact, there are some newer residents and parents who are uncomfortable with the current process to have their kids bike and would be comfortable in the event there were a bike rack along the Billy Swails side of JME.

The Signees of this Petition are in agreement and respectfully request that Charleston County and JME Administration revisit the opportunity to add a bicycle rack to the Billy Swails side of JME. We thank you for your time and consideration.