Dear Parent,

As children head back to school, I want every parent, guardian, and neighbor to know one thing: student safety is not optional, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office will not compromise on it. School zones are among the most heavily enforced areas in our county for a reason. A moment of distraction or a few miles over the limit can cost a life. The School Speed Zone and BusPatrol programs exist to keep students safe and slow drivers down, and we will enforce these laws without exception. If you speed through a school zone or pass a stopped school bus in this county, expect to be cited.

Extending beyond the school zone, threats to our children often appear on a computer or smartphone screen long before they show up on a sidewalk. I urge every parent to take an active role in knowing what their child is doing online, who they’re talking to, which apps they’re using, and what information they’re sharing. Predators and bad actors count on parents looking the other way. Don’t give them that opening. Our Back-to-School Resource Center offers guidance to help you have these conversations and monitor your child’s social media use with confidence, not guesswork.

I also want every family in this county to know their School Resource Deputy. These men and women are on campus every day, not as an afterthought, but as a first line of defense and a trusted presence for your children. Get to know them. Introduce yourselves. A relationship built before there’s a problem is one of the strongest safety tools we have.

Your Sheriff’s Office will continue to enforce the law firmly and fairly to keep our schools and children safe this year and every year. That is our commitment to you.

Sincerely,

Chad Chronister, Sheriff