Besides the obvious safety repercussions of speeding, Lake Wales drivers will soon have a new reason to be sure to follow the speed limits.
The new installation and subsequent launch of new speed zone cameras at local schools will initiate a new way to slow traffic down on highways frequented by children going to and from school.
According to Lt. Emmanuel Figueroa with Lake Wales Police Department, the first cameras will go live in front of Hillcrest Elementary School on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. Both eastbound and westbound Highway 60 in this area will be monitored by speed cameras.
“The safety of children and residents continues to be our primary focus,” Figueroa says, adding that the cameras will bring an added layer of monitoring to local roadways.
Figueroa notes that enforcement will encompass the entire school day. Cameras will be active at Hillcrest Elementary mornings from 7:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., and afternoons from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. On early release days, cameras will be active from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in the afternoon.
School zone cameras will be active and enforced every school day, throughout the day, even when the yellow school zone lights are not blinking. The cameras will not be active after the end of each school day.
The process for issuing citations begins when the cameras record a violation. The footage will be sent to Altumint, the company maintaining the cameras, for review. Footage will be forwarded to LWPD, where a certified representative will make the decision whether or not a citation is to be issued. Upon approval, the citation will then be mailed to the address corresponding to the license plate on the vehicle involved in the violation. The citation will record the date, time, location, vehicle, speed, and license plate number.
Within the Hillcrest Elementary school zone, the posted school zone speed limit is 20 mph during school zone hours. Outside of those hours, the speed limit is 45 mph.
From the date of launch, a 30- day warning period will be initiated. Drivers will have a grace period of 30 active school days where a warning will be issued. Beginning February 27, 2026, citations will begin being mailed out.
Each violation will be fined $100. No points will be assessed for these violations. City representatives say that fines will be allocated to the crossing guard program, FDLE, state, and local government.
Officials say that any citation that is not paid within 30 days will become a traffic citation. These will then follow the procedure for UTC, known as Uniform Traffic Citations, which come with more serious penalties.
Hillcrest Elementary will be the first school in the program to go live, but McLaughlin Academy of Excellence, Lake Wales High School, Spook Hill Elementary, and Victory Ridge Academy will see similar programs roll out in the coming weeks. Each school zone area will have their own 30-day warning, specific school zone times, and speed limits, which are and will continue to be posted.
A total of four school zones will ultimately have new cameras installed when the program completes its launch. 
