Safety first as new school year begins

School safety has been redefined

Yes, the traditional reminders as little feet hit the streets are still current but school districts and law enforcement agencies across the country have stepped up security in a world where locked doors and campus fences almost unheard of just a generation ago are no longer enough

In its back-to-school message to parents this week, the School District of Lee County emphasized a pair of initiatives designed to keep campuses safer from those with ill intent

The district has implemented its Guardian Program which allows the placement of trained, uniformed, armed employees within Lee County Schools as a “force multiplier” in addition to School Resource Officers, long a standard on-campus presence.

The district partnered with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, which oversaw and provided the training, to make this new-toFlorida program happen

The district has also rolled out OPENGATE, a weapons detection system to be installed in every school All students and visitors will undergo a virtual search for possible weapons and other items not allowed on campus

Too much?

We’d like to think so a school employee never having to make an armed response, a weapon never brought on campus is not only the scenario the district and local law enforcement intend, it is exactly the one we all want as well

Back to the traditional, what we, as parents, as residents can do

AAA – The Auto Club Group, released its annual School’s Open Drive Carefully campaign this week

The release offers the following tips for drivers and they are well worth a review as school begins:

■ Slow down. Speed limits in school zones are reduced for a reason A pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 25 mph is nearly two-thirds less likely to be killed compared to a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling just 10 mph faster

■ Come to a complete stop Research shows that more than one-third of drivers roll through stop signs in school zones or neighborhoods Always come to a complete stop, checking carefully for children on sidewalks and in crosswalks before proceeding

■ Eliminate distractions Research shows that taking your eyes off the road for just two seconds doubles your chances of crashing

■ Stop for buses. Motorists are required to stop when approaching a school bus that is stopped with its red lights flashing and STOP arms extended The only exception is on a divided highway with a raised divider

■ Share the road with bicyclists. Children on bicycles are often inexperienced, unsteady and unpredictable. Slow down and allow at least 3 feet of passing distance between your vehicle and a bicyclist

■ Talk to your teen Car crashes are one of the leading causes of death for teens in the United States, and nearly one in four fatal crashes involving teen drivers occurs during the after-school hours of 3 p m to 7 p m

AAA also provides back-to-school safety reminders for bicyclists and students

These additional tips from AAA may be found with this editorial posted to capecoralbreeze com

Take care

Be aware

May the 2023-24 school year be the best one yet for every Lee County student