Dropping off, picking up your child off-campus in Apopka could cost you $40

APOPKA, Fla. — The Apopka Police Department has warned residents about a little-known city ordinance that could cost parents who drop their children off to school.

Parent Tammi Battle said her patience is tested every time she picks up her daughter from Apopka Memorial Middle School.

"It's a lot of traffic up here," she said. "(It's) very annoying, because it's hot, and I don't have an (air conditioner)."

Officials said parents are supposed to pull up to a school to pick up their children, but too many park off-campus and have their children walk to their vehicle.

"Kids are then running across the street, cars are stopping in the street, other drivers are getting frustrated, going around the cars," Apopka police Deputy Chief Randy Hernandez said.

He said he has seen children dart onto busy North Park Avenue because their parents parked across the street.

Hernandez said parents who do so could be fined $40, because a city ordinance said children cannot be dropped off or picked up within a quarter-mile of a school unless it is done at designated school areas.

"We want them to turn the kids over to the teachers where it's safe and then pick them up at the end of the day," he said.

Billy Johnson, whose child attends school in Apopka, said the ordinance is good for public safety.

"It's very dangerous," he said. "Somebody is going to get hurt."

Police said they have ticketed parents before, and they are unafraid to do so again.

Cox Media Group