The Beverly Hills Unified School District launched its traffic mitigation communications campaign on Tuesday with a fully interactive BHUSD Safe Schools website.

It is custom-built for every grade at Horace Mann, Hawthorne and Beverly Vista Middle School. This communication tool is mobile responsive and designed for the parent-user experience.

Opening with a video from Superintendent Michael Bregy, the website includes an interactive guide to navigating school drop-offs and traffic. In collaboration with the city of Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Police Department and Beverly Hills Fire Department, BHUSD has developed a system which intends to support a safe, manageable way to make dropping off less stressful. The website encompasses circulation drop-off maps, pedestrian routes, helpful tips and new signs the community might see around each school site. It is designed specifically so parents can feel confident about how to get their children to school as smoothly as possible.

BHUSD is encouraging students to arrive early and beat the traffic with new incentives including a new breakfast offering, earlier library hours and extended playground opening times.

A feature of the traffic mitigation plan is every school will have three entrances, two for students only and one for adults. The student entrances are only open during drop off and pick up times. Every adult entrance is the school front office. This feature assists traffic flow by having multiple drop off locations and maintains security for every student as all adults must be processed by security officers using the Raptor system. Raptor screens every adult entering the premises flagging and prohibiting any problematic or dangerous visitors from gaining access.

BHUSD is one of the few districts across the nation to utilize this system outside the premises of each school rather than inside the front office where security is already breached. This system along with district security, armed security (another rarity for public schools), increased crossing guards and the roll-out of security cameras district-wide, all ensure students are kept as safe as possible.

Additionally, BHUSD has implemented a staggered drop-off schedule outlined on the overview page and detailed for each parent on their relevant school and grade level pages. This reduces the rush of cars congregating at the same time.

Finally, parents can look forward to seeing principals and assistant principals curbside each morning, welcoming students and assisting traffic continuously moving through the drop-off lanes.

For information, visit bhusdsafeschools.com