School starts on Monday and child safety is on every parent's mind. Wichita falls police officers play a key part ensuring child safety. Officers wake up bright and early to make sure everyone is paying attention to these flashing lights. Kids head back to class on Monday and with children coming in and out of schoos, drivers need to start paying attention to safety school zones.  "We work the school zones hard. We have officers assigned to the school zones every day 5 days a week throughout the whole year and we have a pretty strict zero tolerance policy for any violaters," says Wichita Falls Police Sergeant Jerad Miller.  And with motorcycle cops out in full force, you don't want to speed, or else you'll pay a hefty price.  "The fine amount in a school zone for a speeding violation is just the standard fine amount plus an additonal $25 charge," says Miller. 

Which adds up fast. And yet it isn't the money that drivers should be most concerned about. "Some of these kids just--they got their mind on other things you know especially if they're riding their bicycle to school," say Miller.  Police say residential areas within school zones, such as Rider and Wichita Falls High School are trouble spots. "That's where a lot of our uh school zone violations come from. A lot of high school kids," says Miller.  Another concern--people flying by school buses. "In fact we've done a couple of operations where we've gone out and followed around school buses and just observed whether people are passing them and when they did we'd stop and write them citations for it," says Miller.  When it comes to our children's safety, there's no excuse in breaking the law. "Everything is clearly posted at every school zone so all you have to do is pay attention to the road signs and you'll be ok," says Miller.  Sergent Jerad Miller says the number one reason people speed is they're in a rush. So on Monday and for the rest of the school year, give yourself time and slow down.