FROM MILLBROOK POLICE CHIEF P.K. JOHNSON
Tuesday, August 8, 2023, will be the first day back to school for students here in Millbrook and across Elmore County. There will be more traffic on the roadways beginning that morning, as school busses, parents transporting children and students licensed to drive will be making their way to school. The Millbrook Police Department will have extra officers working during both the morning and evening school traffic hours to help our motoring public with the transition into school traffic.
The City of Millbrook employs three crossing guards, who are stationed at the entrance to Stanhope Elmore High School, at Main Street and Hampton Oaks, Main Street and Chapman Road, as well as the entrance of Coosada Elementary, on Airport Road. Crossing Guards will be directing traffic at each location during school traffic hours, in both the morning and afternoon hours throughout the school year. Police officers will be closely monitoring school traffic, particularly near these intersections to ensure that motorist are complying with the crossing guards, traffic control devices and state traffic laws.
A long time first day of school tradition will continue Tuesday, as the Millbrook Police Department will provide an escort for the “Senior Class Lead Out.” The Stanhope Elmore senior class will meet at Village Green Park at 7:00 a.m. There will be a safety briefing at 7:15 a.m. and the senior class will depart for the High School promptly at 7:30 a.m. Also, parents and students at Stanhope need to be aware that traffic coming into Stanhope will flow differently than it has in the past. All traffic entering school will be required to stay to the right as they enter the school’s campus. The only exception will be school buses, which will veer to the left as they enter, continuing past the gym and off-loading and loading behind the school buildings. Parents dropping off students and students who will be driving are asked to leave early, so that everyone has time to make the transition and not be hurried.
Every year the first day of school brings excitement for the students and faculty, as well as a certain amount of aggravation to those who are trying to get to work during the increased traffic that comes with the start of school. Our goal is to make this transition as safe as we possibly can for our students, teachers and the motoring public. We will have extra officers on duty, both in the morning and tomorrow afternoon, during school traffic. In a couple of days everyone will readjust to the flow of traffic and the fact that we have more vehicles on the roadway during these times.
We simply ask that people be patient, drive defensively understanding that there will be more traffic during these times and that many of them are inexperienced drivers. People trying to get to work may want to leave a little earlier than normal to avoid becoming delayed, particularly in the morning traffic.
Some motorists may opt to avoid Main Street in Millbrook and travel Highway 14 to I-65.
On behalf of the men and the women of the Millbrook Police Department, I want to welcome our students back to school and wish them the best of luck in both their academic and extracurricular endeavors. Part of our mission is to assist the Elmore County School Board in making sure that our students have a safe and productive learning environment. We look forward to monitoring your successes in the classroom, the athletic fields and other areas of interest, as you work to become the leaders of tomorrow.
