As parents were cruising through drop off and kids werebrjumping out of cars to dart off to class, Southlake's finest were also hard atbrwork to ensure everyone had a smooth first day back to school.
Southlake Fire and Police Departments knew some of their neighborsbrcould use a reminder about local school zones, so they designed several largebrcampaign banners that they hung on the back of their engines to help localsbrremember to slow down. They parked the trucks at each school in the district tobrget parents' attention and encourage them to put their foot on the break.
“Both the Fire and Police Departments wanted to make peoplebrmore aware of the school zones this year, and sometimes it's a lot easier tobrpay attention to a giant red fire truck,” SPD Public Information Officer BradbrUptmore says.
So if you see a big red truck in front of your kid's schoolbrfor the first few days, there's no need to panic. It's just a reminder to bebrconscious about these areas that are affected by changing speed limits.
“It has been a long summer with the signs and school zonesbrdeactivated, so any awareness to them coming back on is a win for us and ourbrcitizens,” Uptmore says.
While they are out at the schools – they plan to have a morningbrpresence during drop off until Wednesday – they are excited to meet this year'sbrclass of students.
“We heard feedback that the kiddos loved them, and werebrtaking pictures with the trucks and firefighters all morning,” Uptmore says.