As students gear up for the new academic year, the City of Fort Worth is echoing a vital message about school zone safety. In a recent announcement, the Transportation & Public Works (TPW) Department has emphasized the need for attentive driving, prodding families to utilize designated markings and adhere to speed limits, especially with the presence of students crossing the streets.
With the reality that schools across the area span different start and stop times, Fort Worth's TPW is staying ahead, coordinating with local school districts to ensure the flashing lights signaling school zones are active for a two-hour window before and after school hours. Given summer camps have extended this coverage, it is not uncommon to see these lights well into the evening, past 4 p.m., serving as a silent guardian while most of the city moves oblivious to the delicate choreography of safety these lights represent, as per the City of Fort Worth.
Reflecting on the critical intersection of safety and education, Fort Worth's TPW recently partnered with the City's summer camps to roll out "Future Teens in the Driver Seat," a program tailored for elementary and middle school students. With a sharp focus on raising awareness about distracted walking and driving, as well as the hazards of texting behind the wheel, the initiative incorporated interactive activities and driving simulations to drive home the potential dire outcomes of unsafe behavior around roadways.
Moreover, the City's School Crossing Guard Program operates under the wing of TPW, providing essential safety services at pedestrian crossings near schools, which recently received a monetary nod with the pay being set at $16.07 per hour. With school resource officers (SROs) from the Fort Worth Police Department acting as educators and protectors in local schools—with a tally of 59 SROs placed in middle and high schools—safety continues to be the North Star for Fort Worth strategies on and off campus.
