(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Colorado Springs School District 11 (D11) is collaborating with city leaders and local law enforcement to enhance student safety as they travel to school this year.
The initiative comes after a student at Doherty High School was hit by a vehicle in 2022, prompting the district and city to implement new school zones for secondary schools.
“Put down your phones, your devices, anything that might distract you from driving. Safety of our children is paramount,” said Paul Malchow from the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD).
Todd Frisbie, a traffic engineer for the City of Colorado Springs, emphasized the importance of slowing vehicles around middle and high schools during peak times due to high activity levels.
CSPD issued over 2,200 speeding tickets in school zones last year, which is one of the ways they are funding the safety projects.
The new school zones feature lower speed limits, and CSPD is actively ensuring drivers adhere to these rules, with fines doubled in school zones.
With these efforts, Colorado Springs aims to provide a safer environment for students commuting to school, whether by car, bus, walking, or biking.
The partnership has already remapped zones for nearly a dozen schools over the past two years and plans to add a dozen more in the next two years, aiming to protect students of all ages.
The schools next on the list are:
- Vista Ridge High School
- Sierra High School
- Cheyenne Mountain High School
- Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy
- Fox Meadow Middle School
- Nikola Tesla Education Opportunity Center
- Mann Middle School
- Atlas Prep
- Panorama Middle School
- West Middle School
- Palmer High School
- Fremont Elementary School
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by FOX21. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by FOX21 staff before being published.
About The Author
