With the school year officially underway, it’s important to pay more attention while driving.

For the first time since March, kids will be heading to school in the morning, and going home in the afternoons. Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn tells Raccoon Valley Radio there will be extra presence from the police to keep everyone safe, “We definitely have a large increase in traffic. So as a department, we try and go out and do what we call school patrol. So we’re out and visible and make sure everybody’s driving safely and getting to school safely. Not only does that have to do with identifying traffic violators, but also making sure kids are using sidewalks, make sure they’re using crosswalks also. Make sure to take an extra look around when you’re taking off for work in the morning.”

Dismissal for Perry schools are also a bit different than years prior. Perry High and Middle School are releasing at 2 p.m., and Perry Elementary will dismiss at 1:45 p.m. Sharing the road with busses is also vitally important. It is illegal and dangerous to pass a bus that’s stopped with the stop sign extended if you’re not on a divided road.