NEW ORLEANS — The break is over: School zone speed cameras are coming back in New Orleans on Monday, Aug. 12.
They were turned off as school ended, and they’re all being turned on at the same time, despite New Orleans' unique school structure. That means some schools will already be well past their first days before the cameras are re-activated.
One of those schools is Phyllis Wheatly School in Treme, which started classes Thursday.
On Friday, you could see and hear students playing during recess. at Wheatly. What you also heard was traffic zooming by on Orleans Avenue.
And what you didn't see were flashing lights warning of cameras ready to snap photos of those who were going faster than 20 miles per hour in the morning.
For Wheatly, August 12, when those school zone lights and cameras turn back on, is almost two weeks after classes began.
New Orleans is in a unique situation. The city sets the date for when it'll begin traffic enforcement during school zone hours. But when each school opens is up to individual charter operators.
Joshua Cella, the primary school principal at Wheatley, said his operator, Firstline Schools, started classes for the 2019-2020 academic year at all five of its campuses around the city on Thursday, Aug 1.
"We have over 800 kids who are coming to school every morning ready to learn and we take the job of keeping them safe very seriously,” Wheatley said.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell was critical of traffic cameras during her campaign. She turned off some cameras, while 80 others near schools were left in place.
But with nearly 3-dozen different calendars from different charter groups, the cameras and lights will inevitably snap photos before some campuses are open again. City officials say drivers will not have to pay those tickets for school zones where classes has not yet started up.
As for Cella, he has one request for drivers during the coming weeks.
“We just ask regardless of lights or calendars, when you see kids on the roads, slow down,” he said.
City officials also say New Orleans' three-month Amnesty Late Fee Forgiveness Program for unpaid parking and camera tickets ends on September 3.